In this study, the athlete knowledge scores ranged from 20 to 34. Higher scores indicated more knowledge about concussions. The overall athlete attitude total scores toward concussion ranged from 40 to 98. A higher score indicated that the athlete had a better attitude towards reporting their concussion-like event.
A total of 182 athletes (53.3%) recalled having at least 1 possible concussion or concussion-like event. Of these 182, only 31 (16.9%) indicated that they had reported all of the experienced concussive events to a coach or a medical professional. The participants recalled 84 concussions, and in only 41 (48.8%) of these events, the athlete indicated that they had reported the event. In addition, the athletes recalled 584 concussion-like (bell ringer) events, and in only 72 of these (12.3%), the respondent indicated that they had reported the event to a medical professional or coach.
The researchers noted that the top reasons for not reporting a concussion or bell-ringer are as follows:
• The athlete did not think the event was serious enough to report (70.2%)
• The athlete did not want to be removed from a game (36.5%)
• The athlete did not want to let down their teammates (27.0%)
• The athlete did not want to let down their coaches (23.0%)
Other reasons for not reporting the events were, the athlete did not know the event was a concussion (14.9%) and the athlete didn’t want to be removed from practice (13.5%). In addition to these reasons, 37.7% of the athletes answered that they had continued to participate in a practice or a game at least once while experiencing signs and symptoms of a concussion.
Increased athlete knowledge was not associated with the prevalence of athletes indicating they continued to participate ...
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... school athletes did not report. In addition, the findings suggest that improving the culture of sport, increasing knowledge of concussion symptoms, and increasing the understanding of the serious nature of concussive injuries should be targets for future interventions. Furthermore, these findings support policies for educating both coaches and athletes, as well as the athletes’ parents.
Recommendations
In the future, researchers should investigate how external factors, such as coach, parent, and teammate pressures, influence reporting of concussion among high school athletes. They also should include additional high-risk sports, such as ice hockey, basketball, and wrestling. Another area to investigate is how long after the concussive event did the athlete wait to report the incident to a medical professional or coach, as this was not covered in the current study.
McCrea, M., Hammeke, T., Olsen, G., Leo, P., & Guskiewicz, K. (2004). Unreported concussion in high school football players: implications for prevention. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 14(1), 13-17.
Concussions and the effect they have on people ranging from the young to the old has become a very popular discussion in recent years. Generally people watch sports for entertainment and then there are those who engage in high impact sports from a very young age on. The people at home know how fun playing in a sport is, however they may not know the brutal consequences for some participating in that sport. Injuries to the brain are a main concern among those in the world of high impact sports. Football, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, and rugby are among sports that athletes receive injuries in. The injuries vary from sprains, to fractures, to torn MCL or ACL, and bruised organs. Concussions are a severe type of injury endured by athletes in the sports world and this life changing injury is one that people are becoming more aware of.
That’s where the advancements in concussion detection and treatment comes into play. According to the article “Advancements in Concussion Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment” the writer states “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 207,830 trips to an emergency room annually between 2001 and 2005 due to sports participation injuries” ( “Advancements in Concussion Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment | The Sport Journal” ). The report from the CDC shows how many reported sports injuries occur in a short period. However, this does not include the vast number of injuries not reported every year. That is a lot of injuries that go unreported and not cared for. We can help make it to where all kids after a concussion report it and get treated by educating them on the dangers they face if they continue to play as they are and tell them they will be right back to playing after the testing has been completed and they are clear to play again. This is not hard to do it’s just the fact of telling the kids the truth of the matter and them knowing the tests aren’t hard and don’t take long to pass. But the kids need to know this is needed if they want to be able to play for years to come in school and even in
Through sports or through everyday life, concussions tend to happen. An estimated 300 000 sport-related traumatic brain injuries, predominantly concussions, occur annually in the United States. Sports are second only to motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of traumatic brain injury among people aged 15 to 24 years. (U.S National Library of Medicine). Coaches and parents often do not go through the right procedures or protocols when dealing with a teenager who has received a blow to the head. The usual questions that are asked when there is a head injury are, “what day is it, what’s the score, and how many fingers am I holding up?” Now these are not poor questions, but these questions alone cannot determine if a person has suffered a concussion. The correct method, which they are now implementing in most professional sports leagues, is for anyone with a head injury to take a legitimate concussion test performed by the team doctor. (WebbMD) At present the symptoms can be hit or miss. After receiving a concussion, research shows that an “estimated 80 to 90% of concussions heal spontaneously in the first 7 to 10 days”. (Barton Straus) But, it is important to remember not to return until all symptoms are
Even though the devastation of concussions is just rising to the surface, they have always been around. In 1994, the NFL started a committee called the MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury). Dr. Elliot Pellman was appointed as chair, and he was quoted saying, “We think the issue of knees, of drugs and steroids and drinking is a far greater problem, according to the number of incidents” (Ezell). This quote shows how concussions did not hold much importance, even though it should have been the committee's main focus. This is ironic, because in today’s sport world concussions are a highly talked about topic. They hold such significance that some rules are even being changed to lower the risk for players.
From the year 2001 to 1005 children aged 5-18 accounted for 2.4 million emergency room visits due to sports related injuries. Of these visits around 6 percent involved a concussion(The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Every athlete that receives a concussion does not necessarily go to the emergency room. Athletic trainers, when available and certified, can oversee the recovery of an athlete without a trip to the emergency room. Some concussions go untreated altogether. While the percentage may seem low, looki...
Concussions can spring from practically anywhere; at home during cleaning, playing catch in the yard, or even slipping and falling. One of the most common reasons concussions happen is from sports, most often from football. It should be common knowledge on the symptoms of a concussion and what to do to help it heal, especially coaches. Because of the mindset that coaches give towards their players and the spirit of the game, athletes do not report their injuries to their coaches. One reports states, “The culture of sports negatively influences athletes’ self-reporting of concussion symptoms and their adherence to return-to-play guidance” (Waldron). This means that athletes could have any injury, not just a concussion, and they would be afraid to tell the coach because they are afraid of getting taken out of the game. More coaches, however, are starting to come around to educating the team and support staff about head injuries. Some coaches are actually sitting their teams down and making them watch a video on what happens during a concussion. In one report, the athletes said that after they watched the video, “they would be su...
Recreational athletes, competitive athletes, high school athletes, college athletes, and professional athletes all have one thing in common: the risk of a concussion. It's impossible to go a season without one athlete from a team receiving a concussion. The more that these concussions are studied, the more we learn about them, such as their detrimental effects on athletes. Because of the risk of health issues and death that come with concussions, doctors, coaches, athletic trainers, and lawmakers are stepping in to protect athletes of all levels from receiving concussions.
I myself have endured concussions both unreported. Football has been the main reason. This year, I hit another teammate during practice helmet to helm...
For instance, researchers at Wake Med Health and Hospitals recently found out that even if an athlete knows the symptoms of a concussion, only about 13 percent will report events considered “bell ringers” or temporary transient alterations in neurologic function. In most cases “bell ringers” are considered a concussive injury to medical personnel. Many of the athletes’ reasons for not reporting possible concussions were connected to not wanting to let teammates and coaches down (Mihalik et al, 2013). Another study conducted in 2004 by twenty high schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, asked 1,532 high school football players whether the concussions they sustained during the season were reported or not. Out of 1,532 athletes 47.3 percent reported their concussion and 52.7 percent admitted to not reporting their concussion. The most common reasons for a concussion not being reported in this study were the following: the player did not think the injury was serious enough, the player did not want to be withheld from the game, and the player lacked awareness that a concussion could be possible (McCrea, Hammeke, Olsen, Leo, & Guskeiwicz, 2004).Stricter guidelines would help athletes understand why lying about their symptoms just creates a larger issue. The
The article titled “Concussions increasingly common on the football field,” was found on the Alabama News website. This article takes a look from the coaches perspective when he finds that four of his players have suffered from concussions on his high school football team. The coach from the Greenville high school football team Josh McLendon, raises concern about football and practicing the sport. He talks about his players injuries and how most of the concussions occur during practice. Even though the team works hard to change practice routines and rules, they are not able to prevent concussions from happening. The article talks about symptoms that players do not notice. Often times a player will feel dizzy and he will just assume he took a hard fall, but players start to get blurry vision, dizziness, and headaches. Before players would hide their injury and play through it, but with the heavy effects concussions have had on retired football players, McLendon urges his team to speak up when they start to feel ill. He hopes that other coaches will learn from him when they stress the seriousness of concussions “Wouldn’t tell the coach, wouldn’t tell a parent, it would just kind of go away. But know since we have made people more aware of it I think they’re coming to the forefront of it a little more,” athletes who do not hear about the severity of something will not stop to think
Confusion on the definition of a concussion can affect athletes, coaches and trainers when it comes to diagnosing a concussion. The knowledge to know the signs and symptoms of a concussion can reduce the short, medium, and long-term consequences of them. Signs of a concussion could be an inability to focus, vomiting, nausea, dizziness, and slurred speech. Concussions have been around for many years. More and more research is being conduction on concussions as the years pass for a better understanding. As a better understanding of concussion is being researched, sports teams should force and make better rules when it comes to hitting players. Athletes that has had a concussion can suffer from short-term symptoms like verbal delay or long-term symptoms like a disability. Helmets are being improved constantly, but the reduction of concussions is not decreasing. Reduction of concussion starts with the player reporting his injury. After reporting the injury, the proper steps can be taken to get rid of symptoms and prevent the likeliness of the injury from happening again. To prevent to the likeliness of the injury to reoccur the athlete must take time away from the sport and spend a certain amount of time recovery. Before returning back to play, the athlete must be check for readiness. Readiness can be checked by testing the athlete’s behavior and abilities. Sports come with pros and cons. The pros can be working with others to complete the same objective while having fun. The con can be simply suffering from a concussion. So an athlete has to be willing and well educated on the sport he or she wants to play before committing to a certain
As a result of many deaths of professional athletes through suicide as well as general concern for health, concussion awareness and testing is as high as it’s ever been. Precautions and tests are currently being set up in almost sports in the attempt to diminish the long term effects. Although the symptoms and exact recovery time are still unknown, doctors and researchers are sure that concussions and other forms of head impacts can have long term effects that can present serious issues throughout the rest of these individual’s lives. The risk of potential damage to the brain increases as the number of concussions increase. In the athletics, players deliver and absorb many hits to the head which a primary reason why rules and regulations at a levels of football, for example, are changing to try and decrease the number of concussions received by players and to make the game safer to those who play it. However these head injuries are not just restricted to athletics, roughly three million Americans have brain injuries every year, half of which are considered serious (Dekosky 2010). Also, many of our nation’s brave men and women suffer traumatic head injuries that take months, even years to fully recover from. Though the exact number of concussions in soldiers can be completely accurate, many army officials believe it to be around eighteen percent (Charles 2008).
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As the ambulances arrive to the 3rd quarter of a high school football game the paramedics pull a young teenage boy with curly blonde hair away. The mother cries frantically as she enters the ambulances seat while the rest of the young players take a knee for the all-star quarterback number 42. Surprisingly an alarming amount of teenagers as wells as adults such as parents do not know that concussions in high school athletes are higher than in older athletes. Sadly high school students still participate in the sports and games because they are unaware that they have been injured, creating numerous problems that can lead to you being taken to the hospital or even possible death. Not having concussions checked out or treated can lead to permanent