753 MEP121 – Is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure? Community rugby union players’ beliefs around concussion-related risk and prevention

AbstractBackground Prevention of concussions is a key research priority. Players' attitudes and beliefs around concussion-related risk and the importance of prevention efforts may play a critical role in the success of prevention strategies. To date, limited research exists on community rugby players' perception of concussion-related risk.Objective This study explored players' attitudes and beliefs around concussion-related risk.Design A descriptive, pragmatic qualitative approach was adopted. Setting Club and school-level rugby union in New Zealand.Patients or Participants Twenty-four community rugby players.Assessment Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used to explore participant perceptions. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse data.Results Players reported diverging views when discussing concussion-related issues and the importance of prevention. Recent heightened awareness of potential long-term health consequences of concussions was evident and appeared to influence player perceptions, although in different ways. Three risk-related themes were identified, i) Prevention focused. As part of this theme, players' focus was on risk avoidance and the importance of prevention strategies, driven by a concern for the risk of potential long-term concussion consequences. ii) Management focused. Others agreed that prevention efforts are important, but the elimination of concussions from the game is difficult. They reported that the focus should instead be directed towards timely and efficient concussion management, and proper recovery, which should in turn prevent long-term health consequences. iii) Risk is part of rugby. For these players, the prevention of concussions was perceived to be impossible and was accepted as an inevitable risk from participating in the sport. Mostly, these players did not believe they were at risk for long-term health consequences, as these consequences were present in professional players from a different era. Conclusion Players have different beliefs and priorities around concussion risk and prevention. Taking these differing beliefs into consideration is key when developing intervention strategies.