Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jun;52(6):1256-1262.
doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002269.

No Clinical Predictors of Postconcussion Musculoskeletal Injury in College Athletes

Thomas A Buckley, Caroline M Howard  1 , Jessie R Oldham  2 , Robert C Lynall  3 , C Buz Swanik, Nancy Getchell
Affiliations

No Clinical Predictors of Postconcussion Musculoskeletal Injury in College Athletes

Thomas A Buckley et al. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to identify clinical predictors of postconcussion subsequent musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries.

Methods: We recruited 66 National Collegiate Athletic Association intercollegiate student-athletes with a diagnosed concussion as well as 36 National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes without a concussion. All participants completed a multifaceted concussion baseline consisting of 1) 22-item 0-6 self-reported symptom checklist with outcomes including both the number of symptoms endorsed (0-22) and 2) total symptom score (0-132), 3) Standard Assessment of Concussion, 4) Balance Error Scoring System, 5) Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing, 6) clinical reaction time, and 7) the King-Devick as well as demographic and injury characteristics. The concussion participants completed the same examination acutely postconcussion, and binary logistic regression was used to identify predictors of subsequent MSK from the change scores (acute minus baseline). From the 66 concussed student-athletes, a subset 36, matched with the healthy athletes, compared the risk of subsequent MSK in the year before and year after their concussion.

Results: The concussion participants were 1.78 times (95% confidence interval, 1.12-2.84; P = 0.015) more likely to suffer a lower extremity MSK in the year after their concussion than the control participants. The participant demographics and injury characteristics (P = 0.318) and concussion clinical outcomes (P = 0.461) did not predict subsequent MSK.

Conclusion: The concussion participants were 1.78 times more likely to sustain a subsequent MSK; however, no demographic, injury characteristic, or concussion assessments predicted the MSK. Thus, clinicians are not able to utilize common neurological measures or participant demographics to identify those at risk for subsequent lower extremity MSK. Injury prevention strategies should be considered for collegiate student-athletes upon premature return to participation after a concussion to reduce the subsequent MSK.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS.

There are no conflicts of interest related to this study and no companies or manufacturers will benefit from the results. The host institution did receive free use of the electronic King-Devick test as part of their enrollment in the NCAA-DoD CARE study, but no one from the company had any role in the development, design, analysis, or interpretation of this experiment. The results of this study do not constitute endorsement by ACSM. The results of the study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
There was a significant difference between groups for subsequent LEMSK (Wald: 5.925, p=0.015). The Concussion group was 1.78 (1.12 – 2.84) times more likely to experience a LEMSK than the No-Concussion group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. McCrory P, Meeuwisse W, Dvorak J, et al. Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport - the 5th International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Berlin, October 2016. Br J Sports Med. 2017;51(11):838–57. - PubMed
    1. Sussman ES, Ho AL, Pendharkar AV, Ghajar J. Clinical evaluation of concussion: the evolving role of oculomotor assessments. Neurosurg Focus. 2016;40(4). - PubMed
    1. Buckley TA, Oldham JR, Caccese JB. Postural control deficits identify lingering post-concussion neurological deficits. J Sport Health Sci. 2016;5(1):61–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Turner S, Langdon J, Shaver G, et al. Comparison of Psychological Response Between Concussion and Musculoskeletal Injury in Collegiate Athletes. Sport Exerc Perform Psychol. 2017;6(3):277–88. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dobson JL, Yarbrough MB, Perez J, et al. Sport-Related Concussion Induces Transient Cardiovascular Autonomic Dysfunction. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2017;(312)4:R575–R584. - PubMed

Publication types