Loading...
Incidence of concussion in men's Super League, Championship, and Academy rugby league matches between 2016 and 2022
Eastwood, David Owen, Cameron Phillips, Gemma Williams, Sean Brown, James Gardner, Andrew J. Hendricks, Sharief Johnston, Rich D. Stokes, Keith Tadmor, Daniel
Eastwood, David
Owen, Cameron
Phillips, Gemma
Williams, Sean
Brown, James
Gardner, Andrew J.
Hendricks, Sharief
Johnston, Rich D.
Stokes, Keith
Tadmor, Daniel
Abstract
Objectives
To quantify the incidence of concussion and compare between playing levels in male rugby league.
Design
Retrospective cohort.
Methods
Between 2016 and 2022, medically diagnosed concussions in Super League, Championship, and Academy competitions were reported to the Rugby Football League via club medical staff. Anonymised data were analysed using generalised linear mixed-effects models by season, month, and between competitions.
Results
Overall, 1403 concussions were identified from 104,209 player-match hours. Concussion incidence for Super League, Championship, and Academy was 15.5, 10.5, and 14.3 per 1000 player-match hours, respectively. Championship concussion incidence was significantly lower than the Super League (p < 0.001) and Academy (p < 0.001). No significant differences were identified between years for Super League (range: 13.3 to 18.8 per 1000 player-match hours) and Championship (range: 8.4 to 12.1 per 1000 player-match hours). In Academy (range: 9.6 to 20.5 per 1000 player-match hours), concussion incidence was significantly greater in 2021 compared to earlier years (2016, p = 0.01 and 2017, p = 0.03). No significant differences were identified between months for any competition.
Conclusions
The incidence of concussion is greater in Super League and Academy compared to the Championship. Academy concussion incidence has increased over time. Different factors between and within competitions, such as changes to medical standards and knowledge, could have influenced the identification and diagnosis of concussion.
Keywords
brain injury, injury, epidemiology, contact sport
Date
2023
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
Book
Volume
26
Issue
10
Page Range
539-544
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open
Notes
© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Sports Medicine Australia. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).