Key result
Each additional year of contact sports participation increased the odds of sustaining a pre-college concussion by 5% (OR 1.05; 95% CI 1.05-1.06) in first-year collegiate athletes.
Why the study?
To examine the association between sports participation history, including estimated age of first exposure to high-risk sports, and concussion history in first year collegiate athletes.
Does earlier age of first exposure to high-risk sports increase the likelihood of pre-college concussions in collegiate athletes?
Observational
Does earlier age of first exposure to high-risk sports increase the likelihood of pre-college concussions in collegiate athletes?
Odds Ratio: 1.05 (95% CI 1.05–1.06)
Earlier exposure to high-risk sports and longer duration of contact sports participation are associated with an increased likelihood of sustaining a pre-college concussion among collegiate athletes.
Longer contact sport exposure may raise pre-college concussion odds; hypothesis-generating for eAFE timing before practice change.
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between sports participation history, including estimated age of first exposure (eAFE) to high-risk sports, and concussion history in first year (i.e., freshmen) collegiate athletes. Athletes increased their odds of sustaining a pre-college concussion by 5% [odds ratio(OR) = 1.05 (95%CI:1.05–1.06)] for each additional year of contact sports participation – 24% of all student athletes reported one or more pre-college concussions. When eAFE was analysed dichotomously at age 12, a greater proportion of those who started playing football before age 12 reported a positive concussion history compared to those who started playing football at age 12 or later (Х2 = 4.483, p = 0.034, Phi = 0.049). When eAFE was analysed continuously, later eAFE to women’s high-risk sports was associated with a lower likelihood of sustaining a pre-college concussion [OR = 0.93 (95%CI:0.88–0.98)]. Our findings suggest that there is a relationship between eAFE to football and to women’s high-risk sports and concussion history.
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Caccese et al. (2021) conducted an observational in Concussion. Years of contact sports participation and early age of first exposure (eAFE) to high-risk sports vs. Fewer years of participation or later age of first exposure was evaluated on Pre-college concussion history (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.05-1.06). Each additional year of contact sports participation increased the odds of sustaining a pre-college concussion by 5% (OR 1.05; 95% CI 1.05-1.06) in first-year collegiate athletes.
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