Heads up on concussion in para sport

CITATION: Webborn, N. et al. 2018. Heads up on concussion in para sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(18):1157-1158, doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-097236.The original publication is available at https://bjsm.bmj.com/Concussions to high-profile professional athletes and the $1 billion court settlement between the NFL in the USA and thousands of former NFL players have brought sports concussion to the top of news headlines. 1 The crux of the NFL case centred around retired players’ allegation that the NFL did not warn them about the potential long-term health impact of concussions. Cases such as these alert sport governing bodies to the medicolegal importance of this issue and their responsibility for player safety. For the Para athlete, the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) term for a sportsperson with an impairment, the concussion debate struggles to garner attention. This is partly because funding for epidemiological research in this area is limited.Publishers versio

Heads up on concussion in para sport

CITATION: Webborn, N. et al. 2018. Heads up on concussion in para sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(18):1157-1158, doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-097236.The original publication is available at https://bjsm.bmj.com/Concussions to high-profile professional athletes and the $1 billion court settlement between the NFL in the USA and thousands of former NFL players have brought sports concussion to the top of news headlines. 1 The crux of the NFL case centred around retired players’ allegation that the NFL did not warn them about the potential long-term health impact of concussions. Cases such as these alert sport governing bodies to the medicolegal importance of this issue and their responsibility for player safety. For the Para athlete, the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) term for a sportsperson with an impairment, the concussion debate struggles to garner attention. This is partly because funding for epidemiological research in this area is limited.Publishers versio

The Road to Rio : Medical and Scientific Perspectives on the 2016 Paralympic Games

In August and September of this year, the world will turn its attention to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. Of interest to physiatrists, the Paralympic Games will take place from September 7 to 18, with an estimated total of 4 billion viewers. In the United States, for the first time in history, the Summer Games will be broadcast over a total of 66 hours on NBCUniversal. The Paralympic Games represent the pinnacle of elite sport for athletes with disabilities while also changing perceptions around the importance of grassroots sport and physical activity opportunities for the disability community more broadly

Incidence and burden of injury at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games held during the COVID-19 pandemic : A prospective cohort study of 66 045 athlete days

Objective To describe the epidemiology of injuries at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, including injuries sustained in the new sports of badminton and taekwondo. Methods Injury data were obtained daily via the established web-based injury and illness surveillance system (WEB-IISS; 81 countries, 3836 athletes) and local organising committee medical facilities (81 countries, 567 athletes). Univariate unadjusted incidences (injuries per 1000 athlete days with 95% CIs), injury proportion (IP, %) and injury burden (days lost per 1000 athlete days) are reported. Results A total of 4403 athletes (1853 women, 2550 men) from 162 countries were monitored prospectively during the 3-day pre-competition and 12-day competition periods (66 045 athlete days). 386 injuries were reported in 352 athletes (IP=8.0%) with an incidence of 5.8 per 1000 athlete days (95% CI 5.3 to 6.5). Football 5-a-side (17.2), taekwondo (16.0), judo (11.6) and badminton (9.6) had the highest incidence. There was a higher incidence of injuries in the pre-competition period than in the competition period (7.5 vs 5.4; p=0.0053). Acute (sudden onset) injuries and injuries to the shoulder (0.7) and hand/fingers (0.6) were most common. Injury burden was 10.9 (8.6-13.8), with 35% of injuries resulting in time loss from training and competition. Conclusion Compared with previous Paralympic Games, there was a reduction in injury incidence but higher injury burden at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. The new sports of taekwondo and badminton had a high injury incidence, with the highest injury burden in taekwondo, compared with other sports. These findings provide epidemiological data to inform injury prevention measures for high-risk sports

Incidence and burden of illness at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games held during the COVID-19 pandemic : a prospective cohort study of 66 045 athlete days

OBJECTIVE : To describe the incidence and burden of illness at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, which was organised with strict COVID-19 countermeasures. METHODS : Daily illnesses were recorded via the web-based injury and illness surveillance system (teams with their own medical staff; n=81), and local polyclinic services (teams without their own medical staff; n=81). Illness proportion, incidence and burden were reported for all illnesses and in subgroups by sex, age, competition period, sports and physiological system. RESULTS : 4403 athletes (1853 female and 2550 male) from 162 countries were monitored for the 15-day period of the Tokyo Paralympic Games (66 045 athlete days). The overall incidence of illnesses per 1000 athlete days was 4.2 (95% CI 3.8 to 4.8; 280 illnesses). The highest incidences were in wheelchair tennis (7.1), shooting (6.1) and the new sport of badminton (5.9). A higher incidence was observed in female compared with male athletes (5.1 vs 3.6; p=0.005), as well as during the precompetition versus competition period (7.0 vs 3.5; p1 day. CONCLUSION : The incidence of illness at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games was the lowest yet to be recorded in either the summer or winter Paralympic Games. Dermatological and respiratory illnesses were the most common, with the burden of respiratory illness being the highest, largely due to time loss associated with COVID-19 cases. Infection countermeasures appeared successful in reducing respiratory and overall illness, suggesting implementation in future Paralympic Games may mitigate illness risk.http://bjsm.bmj.comhj2023Sports Medicin