Impact Biomechanics Reveal Positional and Session Type Differences in Canadian Collegiate Football.

Frequent head impacts are common in Canadian football, yet the biomechanical determinants underlying repeated subconcussive exposure and their potential implications remain poorly characterized. To address this, we investigated the biomechanical impact characteristics of college-level Canadian varsity football players, aiming to elucidate the underlying factors that drive subconcussive impacts. Sixty-four athletes were outfitted with head impact sensors during games, practices, and training camps.

Wearing a Guardian Cap Does Not Mitigate On-field Head Impact Severity.

Purpose: Guardian Cap usage is growing amongst youth, college, and professional football players. Little on-field data exist describing Guardian Cap effectiveness, with combined published evidence based on less than 1,000 Guardian Cap impacts. Our objective was to compare on-field head impact biomechanics (magnitude, location, frequency) between college football athletes wearing a Guardian Cap and teammates not wearing a Guardian Cap during practices and games throughout a season.

Longitudinal assessment of post-concussion driving reaction time.

Objectives: Concussed patients present multiple neurocognitive and motor impairments including slowed reaction time (RT), a function essential to driving. We compared driving RT between concussed and non-concussed individuals across their concussion recovery (aim 1) and explored whether clinical concussion outcomes were correlated with driving RT uniquely in the concussion group (aim 2).

Methods: We recruited collegiate athletes (26 concussed and 23 age- and sex-matched controls) to complete the sport concussion assessment tool (SCAT5), a computerized neurocognitive test (CNS Vital Signs), and a driving simulation across 3 timepoints: ≤72 h, asymptomatic, and unrestricted medical clearance.

The influence of concussion history on turning gait performance.

Objective: Straight path gait under dual-task conditions recovers ∼2 months post-concussion. However, turning gait is more complex than straight path gait and may take longer to recover, especially under dual-task conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare how individuals with and without a concussion history may differ in (1) turning gait spatiotemporal characteristics during single- and dual-task (serial 7 s) conditions, (2) the dual-task cost on the spatiotemporal characteristics and cognitive outcomes, and (3) the subjectively perceived task demands of single- and dual-task turning gait.

The Influence of Concussion History and Progressively Increasing Cognitive Load on Jump Landing and Cutting Reaction Time, Biomechanics, and Task Demands.

Context:There is a 2-4x increased risk for musculoskeletal injury after concussion. A potential reason for the increased risk is aberrant biomechanics. The majority of prior research has focused on single-task biomechanics, but dual-task biomechanics may better represent athletic competition.

Quantifying the Diagnostic Utility of Baseline Testing in Concussion Management: An Analysis of Collegiate Athletes From the NCAA-DoD CARE Consortium Dataset.

Background: Although preseason baseline testing is a commonly recommended part of the concussion management process, its "value-added" contribution to the diagnosis of acute concussion compared with normative reference values remains in question.

Purpose: This research aimed to evaluate the diagnostic benefits of baseline testing in acute concussion assessment compared with normative reference values and characterize the athletes who receive the most diagnostic utility from baseline testing.

Study Design: Cohort study (Diagnosis); Level of evidence, 2.

Optimizing Concussion Care Seeking: Using Machine Learning to Predict Delayed Concussion Reporting.

Background: Early medical attention after concussion may minimize symptom duration and burden; however, many concussions are undiagnosed or have a delay in diagnosis after injury. Many concussion symptoms (eg, headache, dizziness) are not visible, meaning that early identification is often contingent on individuals reporting their injury to medical staff. A fundamental understanding of the types and levels of factors that explain when concussions are reported can help identify promising directions for intervention.

Initial investigation of kinesiophobia as a predictor of functional reaction time one year after concussion.

Aim: The relationship between post-concussion kinesiophobia and clinical and functional reaction time (RT) beyond clinical recovery remains to be elucidated.

Methods: College-aged participants with (n = 20) and without (n = 20) a concussion history completed patient-reported outcomes, and RT tasks. Kinesiophobia, symptoms and RTs were compared using t-tests.

The Interval Between Concussions Does Not Influence Time to Asymptomatic or Return to Play: A CARE Consortium Study.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine if the time interval between two concussive events influences the number of days to asymptomatic status, days to return to play, or performance on common post-concussion assessments following the second concussion.

Methods: Data from 448 collegiate athletes and service academy cadets with two concussions (time between concussions: median 295.0 days [interquartile range: 125.

Case Characterization and Perceptions of Athletic Trainers Regarding Medical Disqualification Following Concussion.

Context: Medical disqualification (MDQ) following concussion is a challenging decision clinicians may encounter with little evidence-based guidance.

Objective: To (1) describe the MDQ following concussion cases athletic trainers (ATs) have been involved in, (2) describe beliefs about MDQ following concussion, and (3) explore factors that ATs believed should be involved in the MDQ following concussion process.

Design: Mixed methods.

Optimizing Concussion Care Seeking: Connecting Care-Seeking Behaviors and Neurophysiological States Through Blood Biomarkers.

Background: Timely and appropriate medical care after concussion presents a difficult public health problem. Concussion identification and treatment rely heavily on self-report, but more than half of concussions go unreported or are reported after a delay. If incomplete self-report increases exposure to harm, blood biomarkers may objectively indicate this neurobiological dysfunction.

Improving Concussion Education: Do Athletic Trainers' Opinions Match Expert Consensus?

Context: The National Collegiate Athletic Association and Department of Defense (NCAA-DoD) Mind Matters Challenge created "useful and feasible" consensus recommendations to improve concussion care-seeking behavior in collegiate athletes and military cadets. Given athletic trainers' (ATs') role as providers of concussion education and medical care, it is important to understand if they agree with the expert panel that the recommendations are useful and feasible.

Objective: To describe and compare the perceptions of ATs in the secondary school (SS) and collegiate settings of the utility and feasibility of the NCAA-DoD Mind Matters Challenge recommendations on improving concussion education.

Trunk and Lower Extremity Biomechanics in Female Athletes With and Without a Concussion History.

Context: Athletes with a history of concussion are at a greater risk for lower extremity musculoskeletal injury. Female athletes may be at an even greater risk than male athletes. Previous researchers on postconcussion landing biomechanics have focused on the lower extremities, but the trunk plays a crucial role as an injury risk factor.

Longitudinal Assessment of Postconcussion Driving: Evidence of Acute Driving Impairment.

Background: Current medical practices and recommendations largely ignore the safety of postconcussion driving, even though commonly used measures of neurocognition, balance, and vestibulo-ocular function show impairment.

Purpose: To compare simulated driving between patients with concussion and controls throughout concussion recovery using a case-control design.

Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.

Cognition Uniquely Influences Dual-Task Tandem Gait Performance Among Athletes With a Concussion History.

Background: After a concussion, there are unique associations between static balance and landing with cognition. Previous research has explored these unique correlations, but the factor of time, dual-task, and different motor tasks leave gaps within the literature. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between cognition and tandem gait performance.

Preinjury Measures Do Not Predict Future Concussion Among Collegiate Student-Athletes: Findings From the CARE Consortium.

This prospective cohort study aimed to determine whether preinjury characteristics and performance on baseline concussion assessments predicted future concussions among collegiate student-athletes. Participant cases (concussed = 2529; control = 30,905) completed preinjury: demographic forms (sport, concussion history, sex), Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test, Balance Error Scoring System, Sport Concussion Assessment Tool symptom checklist, Standardized Assessment of Concussion, Brief Symptom Inventory-18 item, Wechsler Test of Adult Reading, and Brief Sensation Seeking Scale. We used machine-learning logistic regressions with area under the curve, sensitivity, and positive predictive values statistics for univariable and multivariable analyses.

Early Exercise is Associated with Faster Concussion Recovery Among Collegiate Athletes: Findings from the NCAA-DoD CARE Consortium.

Background: Growing evidence indicates early exercise may improve symptoms and reduce clinical recovery time after concussion, but research examining collegiate student-athletes is scarce.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare symptom recovery time, clinical recovery time, and persisting post-concussion symptom (i.e.

Quantifying head impact biomechanical differences between commonly employed cleaning levels: a critical research interpretation consideration.

Introduction: Wearable accelerometry devices quantify on-field frequency and severity of head impacts to further improve sport safety. Commonly employed post-data collection cleaning techniques may affect these outcomes.

Objective: Our purpose was to compare game impact rates and magnitudes between three different cleaning levels (Level-1: impacts recorded within start and end times, Level-2: impacts during pauses/breaks removed, Level-3: video verified) for male youth tackle football.

Motor vehicle crash concussion mechanism displays a greater total number of symptoms and greater affective symptom severity but no neurocognitive differences compared with sport-related concussion mechanism.

Previous research among adolescents has shown differences in symptoms and neurocognitive performance between sport-related (SRC) and motor vehicle crash (MVC) concussion mechanisms. Limited research has focused on young adults. The purpose of our study was to compare symptoms, balance, and neurocognitive performance between SRC and MVC mechanisms in young adults.

Single-Leg Hop Stabilization Throughout Concussion Recovery: A Preliminary Biomechanical Assessment.

Context: Aberrant movement patterns among individuals with concussion history have been reported during sport-related movement. However, the acute postconcussion kinematic and kinetic biomechanical movement patterns during a rapid acceleration-deceleration task have not been profiled and leaves their progressive trajectory unknown. Our study aimed to examine single-leg hop stabilization kinematics and kinetics between concussed and healthy-matched controls acutely (≤7 d) and when asymptomatic (≤72 h of symptom resolution).

Optimizing Concussion Care Seeking: A Longitudinal Analysis of Recovery.

Background: Approximately half of concussions go undisclosed and therefore undiagnosed. Among diagnosed concussions, 51% to 64% receive delayed medical care. Understanding the influence of undiagnosed concussions and delayed medical care would inform medical and education practices.