Increase from previous season occurred despite new policies on managing concussions
THURSDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) -- The incidence of concussions among college football players doubled in the past season from the previous season, despite new policies on concussion management, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, held from July 12 to 15 in Baltimore.
Kelly G. Kilcoyne, M.D., from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and colleagues reviewed injury reports from the 2009 to 2010 and 2010 to 2011 seasons to determine the number of concussions for three collegiate Division I football teams from three separate institutions.
The researchers found that the combined number of concussions increased from 23 in the 2009 to 2010 season to 42 in the 2010 to 2011 season. The combined concussion incidence rate increased from 0.56 to 1.16 per 1,000 exposures, for an incidence rate ratio of 2.04 (P = 0.005).
"The timing of the new National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations and the increase in reported concussions could certainly be attributed to under-reporting from players and coaches in the past," Kilcoyne said in a statement. "Such an increase is still notable, and we need continued studies in football and other sports to find out more."
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