CONCUSSION REPORTING ON RISE IN NFL

Concussion diagnoses rose 15 per cent overall in the 2017 season, the NFL said Friday. Compared to 2016 — with numbers compiled and analyzed by a medical-data firm — brain injuries rose 28 per cent this past pre-season (91 suffered in practices and games, up from 71 in 2016) and 10 per cent in the regular season (190 in practices and games, up from 172 in 2016). Overall, concussions rose year-over-year from 243 to 281. The league did not release figures from this month’s playoffs. Nearly half of the 190 regular-season concussions reported — 47 per cent — had a self-report component, meaning the concussed player alone reported symptoms or did so in conjunction with team-medical staff intervention. In 2016, that percentage was 32 per cent. Some 28 per cent of 2017 regular-season concussions were diagnosed entirely because a player self-reported. The league and its medical- data provider say reliable numbers on self- reporting might go back only one year.