Concussionology® - Master The Complex
Research 38
Concussion Recovery Takes Longer
Comment By Dr. Mladenoff
The notion that you recover from a concussion in 7-10 days is foolish and is a dis-service. The CDC reports on average adults recover in 19 days and children recover in 23 days.
This study of elite athletes with access to exceptional care indicates that the average return to participation time is 29.4 days. This observation is more prevalent and confirmed by multiple sources.
The real question is what criteria are being used to determine complete recovery and return to play? The absence of symptoms does not equate to full recovery. For example the concussed athlete may be symptom free and 10 minutes of aerobic activity raising the heart rate to 120bpm causes headaches is indicative of incomplete recovery. Equally what examination procedures are being used to determine recovery? A QEEG examination of brain waves has found continued disturbance of brain function 1 year post trauma. Was electrodiagnostic testing used at the AirForce Academy to evaluate these athletes?
Orthop J Sports Med. 2018 Mar; 6(3): 2325967118760854.
Published online 2018 Mar 14. doi: Reconsidering Return-to-Play Times: A Broader Perspective on Concussion Recovery. Christopher D’Lauro, PhD,†* Brian R. Johnson, PhD,† Gerald McGinty, PT/DPT,‡ C. Dain Allred, MD,§ Darren E. Campbell, MD,§ and Jonathan C. Jackson, MD§
Abstract
Background: Return-to-play protocols describe stepwise, graduated recoveries for safe return from concussion; however, studies that comprehensively track return-to-play time are expensive to administer and heavily sampled from elite male contact-sport athletes.
Purpose: To retrospectively assess probable recovery time for collegiate patients to return to play after concussion, especially for understudied populations, such as women and nonelite athletes.
Methods: Medical staff at a military academy logged a total of 512 concussion medical records over 38 months. Of these, 414 records included complete return-to-play protocols with return-to-play time, sex, athletic status, cause, and other data
Results: Overall mean return to play was 29.4 days. Sex and athletic status both affected return-to-play time. Men showed significantly shorter return to play than women, taking 24.7 days (SEM, 1.5 days) versus 35.5 days (SEM, 2.7 days) (P < .001). Intercollegiate athletes also reported quicker return-to-play times than nonintercollegiate athletes: 25.4 days (SEM, 2.6 days) versus 34.7 days (SEM, 1.6 days) (P = .002). These variables did not significantly interact.
Conclusion: Mean recovery time across all groups (29.4 days) showed considerably longer return to play than the most commonly cited concussion recovery time window (7-10 days) for collegiate athletes. Understudied groups, such as women and nonelite athletes, demonstrated notably longer recovery times. The diversity of this sample population was associated with longer return-to-play times; it is unclear how other population-specific factors may have contributed. These inclusive return-to-play windows may indicate longer recovery times outside the population of elite athletes.
Published online 2018 Mar 14. doi: Reconsidering Return-to-Play Times: A Broader Perspective on Concussion Recovery. Christopher D’Lauro, PhD,†* Brian R. Johnson, PhD,† Gerald McGinty, PT/DPT,‡ C. Dain Allred, MD,§ Darren E. Campbell, MD,§ and Jonathan C. Jackson, MD§
Abstract
Background: Return-to-play protocols describe stepwise, graduated recoveries for safe return from concussion; however, studies that comprehensively track return-to-play time are expensive to administer and heavily sampled from elite male contact-sport athletes.
Purpose: To retrospectively assess probable recovery time for collegiate patients to return to play after concussion, especially for understudied populations, such as women and nonelite athletes.
Methods: Medical staff at a military academy logged a total of 512 concussion medical records over 38 months. Of these, 414 records included complete return-to-play protocols with return-to-play time, sex, athletic status, cause, and other data
Results: Overall mean return to play was 29.4 days. Sex and athletic status both affected return-to-play time. Men showed significantly shorter return to play than women, taking 24.7 days (SEM, 1.5 days) versus 35.5 days (SEM, 2.7 days) (P < .001). Intercollegiate athletes also reported quicker return-to-play times than nonintercollegiate athletes: 25.4 days (SEM, 2.6 days) versus 34.7 days (SEM, 1.6 days) (P = .002). These variables did not significantly interact.
Conclusion: Mean recovery time across all groups (29.4 days) showed considerably longer return to play than the most commonly cited concussion recovery time window (7-10 days) for collegiate athletes. Understudied groups, such as women and nonelite athletes, demonstrated notably longer recovery times. The diversity of this sample population was associated with longer return-to-play times; it is unclear how other population-specific factors may have contributed. These inclusive return-to-play windows may indicate longer recovery times outside the population of elite athletes.