International survey exploring concussion experiences in rugby

Above: All Black Kieran Read has suffered two concussions within a month and missed last Saturday's Crusaders versus Brumbies match and also will not play in this coming Sunday's match against the Reds.

If you are 18 years of age and over and involved in rugby at any level as a player, ex-player, administrator, coach or supporter please take the time to complete this brief online survey (link at the bottom of this article) to help contribute to the enhancing of the understanding and management of concussion at the community level of the sport.

Rugby has seen significant media attention in recent months regarding the incidence of concussion and mild traumatic brain injury in the professional game, with concerns raised regarding both short and long-term player welfare.

There is now a growing awareness of the need to face up to ‘concussion' in the professional game. The recent attention around Kieran Read sitting out a second week of rugby fixtures being the latest example of a refreshing openness and willingness from the game to acknowledge what was once seen as a trivial and derisory injury to pick up.

While the Crusaders and other leading professional sides have introduced procedures to assist with the identification and management of concussion through protocols such as the Pitchside Suspected Concussion Assessment (PSCA) tool, the rest of the rugby playing population below the professional level - and the level at which most people play the game - still represents a significant risk area.

One of the primary contributors to this risk is the relative lack of medical provision and support players receive at the community level both in terms of match day care and subsequent return to play advice and support. The target to overcome this shortfall in medical provision is to seek to raise awareness of concussion and concussion management for all those involved in the community game.

One example of a well-known player at the local community level forced to quit is 2011 Jubilee Cup winning lock Daniel Reddish, now managing the Oriental-Rongotai Premiers. His story recently featured in the Dominion Post to highlight a pilot concussion test currently being run in Wellington led by Dr Dr Paul Quigley and Hutt Valley emergency nurse Doug King.

An international study is currently being conducted as part of ongoing international research collaboration into understanding the concussion experiences and overall player welfare of those involved in the community side of rugby. The project team comprises scientists from a number of research groups across the rugby union world including the Athlete Welfare Group at Swansea University (Wales), the Rugby Science Research Group at Bath University (England) and the Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine (ESSM) at the University of Cape Town (South Africa).? Between them the research team has over 150 years of playing, coaching and scientific research experience within the game.

The link to their survey is here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BKR5Q5T?

Any correspondence regarding concussion experiences is welcomed and can be emailed directly to s.d.mellalieu@swan.ac.uk or follow him on twitter @stevemellalieu

?