If it’s a big match, only half of teen GAA players will report concussion
Study f inds adolescents who suspect they have a head injury are reluctant to admit that to an adult
JUST under half of adolescent GAA players are less likely to report a concussion if it occurs during a championship game or if an important match is looming, according to a new study.
The DCU research found that nearly six out of ten, or 57%, of teenage players had sustained at least one suspected sportsrelated concussion – with 8% reporting
‘They are not letting the team down’
between three and five suspected concussions.
The new study, which stressed that the under-reporting of sports-related concussion is common among adolescent athletes internationally, gives a revealing glimpse into the reasons why young GAA players fail to report a head injury despite education initiatives by the organisation.
Only 43% of the young players – taken from under 18, under 16 and under 14 hurling, camogie and Gaelic football teams – would report a concussion if it occurred during a trial for the county underage team.
Three out of ten would not make a report and a quarter were unsure if they would raise the alarm during a trial.
When it came to a championship game, just over half, or 53%, would report the suspected head injury while 17% would not make a report and 30% were unsure.
There were similar figures when it came to the prospect of a ‘big’ match in the near future.
The lead author of the paper, Dr Siobhán O’Connor, Assistant Professor in the School of Health and Human Performance at DCU, said there can be serious dangers in not reporting the suspected brain injury.
She said: ‘By not reporting their concussion, players are not adequately assessed and they may not stop playing or complete a returnto-play protocol.
‘This can lead to a delayed recovery, increase their future risk of a concussion or other injuries and could have serious catastrophic consequences like second impact syndrome if they sustain another blow.’ The study was carried out on 113 adolescent male and female Gaelic games players and 151 parents who completed an anonymous questionnaire.
The paper, which has just been published in Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Journal, highlighted that the GAA has taken measures to improve awareness of concussion with educational initiatives available to all players, members, referees and coaches.
Dr O’Connor, who is Vice President of the World Federation of Athletic Therapy and Training, said the young players’ knowledge of concussion was quite good.
She said there is concern around the findings that just under three in five adolescent Gaelic games players suspected they had suffered a concussion previously, but not all were medically diagnosed.
The biggest reason for not reporting a suspected sports-related concussion was letting team-mates down , a reason cited by half of the young players.
Four out of ten said they would not raise the alarm due to letting friends, family or the community down while just over a third, or 36%, said they felt pressure to continue to play,
Dr O’Connor said the message needs to be put across that a player’s safety is paramount.
She said: ‘No game is more important than the health of the players.
‘We need to explicitly let our underage players know that it is important to tell an adult if they think they are concussed, even if they are not sure.
‘We need to make it clear that they are not letting the team down.
‘There are people that we can refer them to, like certified athletic therapists, that can manage their concussion and give them a guided rehabilitation and return-to-play programme to get them back playing as soon as possible in a safe manner.’
The study pointed out that as adolescents reported that medical professionals are rarely at training and are only at a minority of games, it was important to create a culture of reporting the suspected injury among non-medical personnel.
Dr O’Connor noted that the wider GAA community, including coaches, parents and volunteers, needs to be educated along with the players themselves.
‘We also need to think of implementing new approaches, such as popular opinion-leader approaches, to encourage adolescents to report to a responsible adult if they suspect that they or a teammate is concussed.’
‘No game is more important than health’