Trends in match concussion incidence and return-to-play time in male professional Rugby Union: A 16-season prospective cohort study

Stephen W. West; Matthew Cross; Grant Trewartha; Aileen Taylor; John Brooks; Simon Kemp; Duncan Locke; Osman Ahmed; Keith Stokes

doi:10.1080/02699052.2021.1972142

Trends in match concussion incidence and return-to-play time in male professional Rugby Union: A 16-season prospective cohort study

Stephen W. West, Matthew Cross, Grant Trewartha, Aileen Taylor, John Brooks, Simon Kemp, Duncan Locke, Osman Ahmed, Keith Stokes

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Aim: To describe trends in the incidence of match concussions and time to return-to-play in professional rugby union. Methods: Match concussion incidence (injuries per 1000 player-match-hours) and time to return-to-play (mean and median days absence) were recorded in 3006 male professional rugby union players over 16 seasons (2002/03–2018/19). Results: From 2002/03 to 2009/10, incidence of concussions was stable at 4.3/1000 player-match-hours. From 2009/10 to 2018/19, there was an increase in concussion incidence, with the highest incidence in 2016/17 at 20.9/1000 player-match-hours (95% CI: 17.9–24.3). Annual prevalence of concussion also increased, suggesting more players were concussed rather than the same players sustaining more concussions. Before the introduction of standardized graduated return-to-play (GRTP) guidelines in 2011, 27% of players returned to play in <6 days. After the introduction of the GRTP, this decreased to 7%, with no players returning in <6 days after 2014/15. Between 2002/03 and 2018/19, incidence of all other injuries remained stable. Conclusions: From 2009/10 onwards, the incidence of diagnosed concussions increased. Since the introduction of the GRTP, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of players returning in <6 days.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1235-1244
Number of pages	10
Journal	Brain Injury
Volume	35
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/02699052.2021.1972142
Publication status	Published - 2021
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided by the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and University of Bath. The authors would like to thank the staff of the rugby clubs involved in this study for the ongoing collection of data which has helped to guide policy and improve player welfare across the game

Funding Information:
This project was funded by the Rugby Football Union and Premier Rugby Ltd. SPTK, DL and KAS are employed by the Rugby Football Union. MJC is employed by Premier Rugby Ltd. GT has previously received grants from the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby over the period 2011-16. The remaining authors have no competing interests to declare.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Access to Document

10.1080/02699052.2021.1972142

Cite this

@article{9af7e65ad4324b009ead17a215b26fe7,

title = "Trends in match concussion incidence and return-to-play time in male professional Rugby Union: A 16-season prospective cohort study",

abstract = "Aim: To describe trends in the incidence of match concussions and time to return-to-play in professional rugby union. Methods: Match concussion incidence (injuries per 1000 player-match-hours) and time to return-to-play (mean and median days absence) were recorded in 3006 male professional rugby union players over 16 seasons (2002/03–2018/19). Results: From 2002/03 to 2009/10, incidence of concussions was stable at 4.3/1000 player-match-hours. From 2009/10 to 2018/19, there was an increase in concussion incidence, with the highest incidence in 2016/17 at 20.9/1000 player-match-hours (95% CI: 17.9–24.3). Annual prevalence of concussion also increased, suggesting more players were concussed rather than the same players sustaining more concussions. Before the introduction of standardized graduated return-to-play (GRTP) guidelines in 2011, 27% of players returned to play in <6 days. After the introduction of the GRTP, this decreased to 7%, with no players returning in <6 days after 2014/15. Between 2002/03 and 2018/19, incidence of all other injuries remained stable. Conclusions: From 2009/10 onwards, the incidence of diagnosed concussions increased. Since the introduction of the GRTP, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of players returning in <6 days.",

author = "West, {Stephen W.} and Matthew Cross and Grant Trewartha and Aileen Taylor and John Brooks and Simon Kemp and Duncan Locke and Osman Ahmed and Keith Stokes",

note = "Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and University of Bath. The authors would like to thank the staff of the rugby clubs involved in this study for the ongoing collection of data which has helped to guide policy and improve player welfare across the game Funding Information: This project was funded by the Rugby Football Union and Premier Rugby Ltd. SPTK, DL and KAS are employed by the Rugby Football Union. MJC is employed by Premier Rugby Ltd. GT has previously received grants from the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby over the period 2011-16. The remaining authors have no competing interests to declare. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.",

year = "2021",

doi = "10.1080/02699052.2021.1972142",

language = "English",

volume = "35",

pages = "1235--1244",

journal = "Brain Injury",

issn = "0269-9052",

publisher = "Informa Healthcare",

number = "10",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Trends in match concussion incidence and return-to-play time in male professional Rugby Union

T2 - A 16-season prospective cohort study

AU - West, Stephen W.

AU - Cross, Matthew

AU - Trewartha, Grant

AU - Taylor, Aileen

AU - Brooks, John

AU - Kemp, Simon

AU - Locke, Duncan

AU - Ahmed, Osman

AU - Stokes, Keith

N1 - Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by the Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and University of Bath. The authors would like to thank the staff of the rugby clubs involved in this study for the ongoing collection of data which has helped to guide policy and improve player welfare across the game Funding Information: This project was funded by the Rugby Football Union and Premier Rugby Ltd. SPTK, DL and KAS are employed by the Rugby Football Union. MJC is employed by Premier Rugby Ltd. GT has previously received grants from the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby over the period 2011-16. The remaining authors have no competing interests to declare. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Aim: To describe trends in the incidence of match concussions and time to return-to-play in professional rugby union. Methods: Match concussion incidence (injuries per 1000 player-match-hours) and time to return-to-play (mean and median days absence) were recorded in 3006 male professional rugby union players over 16 seasons (2002/03–2018/19). Results: From 2002/03 to 2009/10, incidence of concussions was stable at 4.3/1000 player-match-hours. From 2009/10 to 2018/19, there was an increase in concussion incidence, with the highest incidence in 2016/17 at 20.9/1000 player-match-hours (95% CI: 17.9–24.3). Annual prevalence of concussion also increased, suggesting more players were concussed rather than the same players sustaining more concussions. Before the introduction of standardized graduated return-to-play (GRTP) guidelines in 2011, 27% of players returned to play in <6 days. After the introduction of the GRTP, this decreased to 7%, with no players returning in <6 days after 2014/15. Between 2002/03 and 2018/19, incidence of all other injuries remained stable. Conclusions: From 2009/10 onwards, the incidence of diagnosed concussions increased. Since the introduction of the GRTP, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of players returning in <6 days.

AB - Aim: To describe trends in the incidence of match concussions and time to return-to-play in professional rugby union. Methods: Match concussion incidence (injuries per 1000 player-match-hours) and time to return-to-play (mean and median days absence) were recorded in 3006 male professional rugby union players over 16 seasons (2002/03–2018/19). Results: From 2002/03 to 2009/10, incidence of concussions was stable at 4.3/1000 player-match-hours. From 2009/10 to 2018/19, there was an increase in concussion incidence, with the highest incidence in 2016/17 at 20.9/1000 player-match-hours (95% CI: 17.9–24.3). Annual prevalence of concussion also increased, suggesting more players were concussed rather than the same players sustaining more concussions. Before the introduction of standardized graduated return-to-play (GRTP) guidelines in 2011, 27% of players returned to play in <6 days. After the introduction of the GRTP, this decreased to 7%, with no players returning in <6 days after 2014/15. Between 2002/03 and 2018/19, incidence of all other injuries remained stable. Conclusions: From 2009/10 onwards, the incidence of diagnosed concussions increased. Since the introduction of the GRTP, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of players returning in <6 days.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114605145&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/02699052.2021.1972142

DO - 10.1080/02699052.2021.1972142

M3 - Article

C2 - 34495819

AN - SCOPUS:85114605145

SN - 0269-9052

VL - 35

SP - 1235

EP - 1244

JO - Brain Injury

JF - Brain Injury

IS - 10

ER -

Trends in match concussion incidence and return-to-play time in male professional Rugby Union: A 16-season prospective cohort study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this