The Newsletter of CIRCL, the Center for Injury Research & Control at the University of Pittsburgh
- In This Issue:
- Director's Message
- Managing Return-to-Play Decisions Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
- The Impact of Pregnancy-Associated Crashes on Birth Outcomes and Infant Survival
- Improving the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Inflicted Head Trauma in Infants
- Evaluating the Impact of Neuroendocrine Hormones on Pathophysiology and Outcomes after Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Infant Head Injury Risk in Falls Using Experimental and Computational Models
- Staff Notes
- Masthead
Volume 10, Issue 1: Spring 2007
Managing Return-to-Play Decisions Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
The mTBI study
The mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) study is a large longitudinal study which will:
- estimate the incidence of mild traumatic brain injury in rugby players;
- assess the risk and protective factors for injury and recovery and;
- develop evidence-based guidelines on which to base return-to-play decisions following mTBI for players participating at a non-elite level.
The research team have begun recruiting players prior to the beginning of the rugby season since 2005. Head injuries are reported to study staff during the season and head injured players receive neuropsychological testing at five time intervals (less than 72hr, 7days, 14days, 21days and 3mths) post injury. At the cessation of data collection, post head injury neuropsychological data will be collated and compared to baseline data or normative data (collected from a representative sample). This data, in association with the cohort data, will provide the basis for the development of guidelines for managing return-to-decisions in non-elite rugby players; a level of participation where there is little, if any, medical support.
Progress of the study
Currently the study has completed two of the three seasons of data collection with the final recruitment phase beginning in April 2007. Both response rates and follow-up protocol completion improved in 2006 after the follow-up methods were refined. To date, over 2400 players have been recruited to the study with 94 players sustaining a mTBI and receiving neuropsychological testing. Within the players that have sustained a mTBI, 80% have been over the age of 18. Interestingly, 30% of the injured players had reported a concussion in the past 12 months with the majority reporting multiple incidents of mTBI.
Future Directions
The findings from the research will contribute to the development of guidelines for managing return-to-play decisions in non-elite rugby players. The guideline development process will also incorporate input from stakeholders such as the Australian Rugby Union as well as sports medicine experts, both nationally and internationally. The newly created guidelines will be delivered as part of a broad educational package focused on managing mTBI in non-elite rugby.
Presentations and abstracts
Stevenson, M., McIntosh, A., Finch, C., Collins, M., Hollis, S., Taylor, C., et. al. Managing return-to-play decisions following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). 8th Australian Injury Prevention Conference. Sydney. 29th September, 2006.
Finch, C.F., Stevenson, M., McIntosh, A., Collins, M., Hollis, S., Taylor, C., et. al. The influence of study design on player recruitment and retention rates – experience from the mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) study. ASICS Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport, 19-21 October 2006.