Latest Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport includes:
A group of more than100 expert researchers and clinicians from around the world, co-chaired by Professor Jon Patriciosof Wits Sport and Health (WiSH), University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University), has distilled and synthesised new scientific evidence and updated existing recommendations with the aim of optimising the care of athletes at all levels of participation who have, or who are at risk of, concussion.
Based on the outcomes from the International Conference on Concussion in Sport, held in Amsterdam in October 2022, and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) , the Statement is informed by 10 systematic reviews and methodology outlining the new consensus process. The entire process more than 4 years to complete.
In a bid to be more transparent and inclusive than in previous years, the process adopted anonymous voting, alternative viewpoints, open declarations of potential conflicts of interest, and included the views of athletes, a focus on para-athletes, and ethical perspectives.
The Statement includes a series of new (SCOAT6, Child SCOAT6) and updated (CRT6, SCAT6, Child SCAT6) age-appropriate tools for clinicians and sports organisations to help them better identify and manage sports related concussion in the short and longer term.
It features new evidence-based strategies for returning to active sport and education after concussion; early exercise and treatment recommendations; approaches to prevention; targeted rehabilitation; and a call for a working group to be set up to guide further research on the potential long term effects of concussion on health.
Among the key recommendations:
Prevention
Early interventions
Rehabilitation
Persisting symptoms
Recovery
Return to education and sport
Potential long term effects
Evidence gaps still to be filled
Commenting on the Statement, Consensus Statement co-chair, Dr Kathryn Schneider of the University of Calgary, Canada, says: “This Statement sets out a range of new evidence-based recommendations, including those for concussion prevention as well as new versions of the concussion assessment tools and return to sport and school/learning strategies”.
“We encourage clinicians and sports organisations around the globe to adapt these recommendations to their own geographic and cultural environments to optimise the care of athletes who have sustained, or who are at risk of, concussion,” she adds.
"The differentiating aspects of this latest Concussion Consensus are the rigorous methodological process we adopted, the new generation of tools available to clinicians, and the emphasis on the positive impact of exercise and targeted rehabilitation as effective interventions," explains Consensus Statement co-chair, Professor Jon Patricios of Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa.
“These have the potential to positively change the management of sport-related concussion."
British Journal of Sports Medicine