Objectives: To evaluate if the tackler correctly adhering, or not, to four different instructions of legal front-on one-on-one torso tackles altered the tackler and/or ball carrier peak inertial head kinematics.
Design: Controlled laboratory study.
Methods: Fifteen rugby-code players measured with three-dimensional optoelectronic motion capture performed two tackle instructions from the Australian National Rugby League coaching manual on under (Dominant National Rugby League) and over (Smother National Rugby League) the ball tackles, and two novel variants of these (under, Dominant, Torso Stick; over, Smother, Pop, Lock).
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether a history of prior concussions, and especially multiple prior concussions, is associated with clinical recovery following a subsequent sport-related concussion among collegiate student athletes.
Design: A naturalistic observational cohort study.
Setting: Eleven National Collegiate Athletics Association Division III colleges.
Objectives: Career duration is often used as a metric of neurotrauma exposure in studies of elite athletes. However, as a proxy metric, career length may not accurately represent causal factors, and associations with health outcomes may be susceptible to selection effects. To date, relationships between professional American-style football (ASF) career length and postcareer health remain incompletely characterised.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFear avoidance behaviour is associated with slow recovery from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This study is a preliminary evaluation of graded exposure therapy (GET), which directly targets fear avoidance behaviour, for reducing post-concussion symptoms (PCS) and disability following mTBI. In a historical comparison design, we compared two groups from independent randomized trials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Our purpose was to represent a rare cohort of female collision sport athletes and investigate the association between sport type (collision, contact, and noncontact), symptoms, and performance on baseline neurocognitive assessments.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using baseline computerized neurocognitive scores (Immediate Postconcussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing [ImPACT]) of 75,128 female high school student-athletes (age, 15.27 ± 1.
Objective: Prior studies have investigated associations between gender, symptom resolution, and time to return to play following sport-related concussion (SRC). However, there is a notable gap in research regarding the association between gender and return to learn (RTL) in adolescents. Therefore, this study 1) compared the patterns of RTL between boys and girls who are high school student athletes, and 2) evaluated the possible association between gender and time to RTL after adjusting for covariates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To examine whether a personal history of migraines is associated with worse acute symptom burden after sport-related concussion (SRC).
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Setting: National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III collegiate programs.
Background: The rugby league tackle has been identified as the game event with the greatest propensity for a clinically diagnosed concussion. This study aims to replicate the work conducted in professional rugby league and rugby union by examining Head Injury Assessment (HIA) events to determine the associated tackle characteristics that increase concussion risk in sub-elite rugby league players. This comparison between competition levels is important due to the less developed physiological and tackle proficiency characteristics of sub-elite rugby league players and the fewer resources available for an on-field diagnosis, compared to the elite level of the sport.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere are no validated diagnostic criteria for traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES). During the early and middle 20th century, TES was described as a clinical condition that was experienced by some high-exposure boxers-and it was believed to reflect chronic traumatic brain injury. Consensus criteria for the diagnosis of TES were published in 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPre-injury migraines might be a risk factor for prolonged recovery after sport-related concussion (SRC). We sought to examine whether a pre-injury history of migraines is associated with worse recovery following SRC in collegiate athletes. Data were collected through a prospective concussion surveillance system in 11 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III college athletic programs between September 2014 and March 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The objective was to determine the incidence of surgically treated chronic subdural hematoma (cSDH) within six months after head trauma in a consecutive series of head injury patients with a normal initial computed tomography (CT).
Methods: A total of 1941 adult patients with head injuries who underwent head CT within 48 h after injury and were treated at the Tampere University Hospital's emergency department were retrospectively evaluated from medical records (median age = 59 years, IQR = 39-79 years, males = 58%, patients using antithrombotic medication = 26%). Patients with no signs of acute traumatic intracranial pathology or any type of subdural collection on initial head CT were regarded as CT negative (n = 1573, 81%).
Aims: We applied the 2021 consensus criteria for both chronic traumatic encephalopathy neuropathological change and traumatic encephalopathy syndrome in a small case series of six former elite-level Australian rugby code players.
Methods: Neuropathological assessment of these cases was carried out at the Sydney and Victorian Brain Banks. Clinical data were collected via clinical interviews and health questionnaires completed by the participants and/or their next of kin, and neuropsychological testing was conducted with participants who were capable of completing this testing.
Arch Clin Neuropsychol
August 2024
Objective: Researchers and practitioners can detect cognitive improvement or decline within a single examinee by applying a reliable change methodology. This study examined reliable change through test-retest data from the English-language National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) normative sample.
Method: Participants included adults (n = 138; age: M ± SD = 54.
Objective: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with mental health and cognitive problems, and mental health problems are associated with perceived cognitive difficulties among adolescents. The unique contribution of ACEs to cognitive difficulties after adjusting for poor mental health is not well understood and represents the purpose of this study.
Methods: The Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey was conducted in 2021 with high school students in the United States.
Primary Objective: We evaluated whether photobiomodulation with red/near infrared light applied transcranially via light emitting diodes (LED) was associated with reduced symptoms and improved cognitive functioning in patients with chronic symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury.
Research Design: Participants (3 men, 6 women; 22-61 years-old) underwent a 6-week intervention involving 18 40-minute transcranial LED treatment sessions.
Methods And Procedures: Reliable change indices were calculated for 10 neuropsychological test scores and 3 self-report questionnaires of subjective cognition, post-concussion symptoms, and depression at baseline and following treatment.
Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) has become the most promising biomarker for detecting traumatic abnormalities on head computed tomography (CT) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), but most studies have not addressed the potential added value of combining the biomarker with clinical variables that confer risk for intracranial injuries. The Scandinavian Guidelines for Initial Management of Minimal, Mild, and Moderate Head Injuries in Adults were the first clinical decision rules in the field with an incorporated biomarker, the S100 astroglial calcium-binding protein B (S100B), which is used in the Mild (Low Risk) group defined by the guidelines. Our aim was to evaluate the performance of the guidelines when S100B was substituted with GFAP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted the Adolescent Behavior and Experiences Survey (ABES) to examine disruption and adversity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the association between social determinants of health (SDoH) and cognitive problems attributed to physical or mental health problems among high school students.
Method: The ABES was an online survey.