Concussions In High School Athletes: A Case Study

McCrea, Hammeke, Olsen, Leo, and Guskiewicz (2004) used a sample of over 150 football players from 20 high schools around Milwaukee to investigate the frequency of unreported concussions in high school athletes to accurately estimate the occurrence rate of concussions of these athletes. This study was conducted by first having the players fill out a questionnaire on their concussion history and then they completed a confidential questionnaire at the end of the season to report the number of concussions they suffered before and during the season. The results found that 229 players had experienced a concussion during the season, but only 47% reported it (McCrea et al., 2004). The common response for not reporting a concussion was that they did not think it was serious enough to tell anyone about it. The other reasons included that the player did not want to be held out of competing and their lack of knowledge about concussions. Various researchers have shown that while athletes do seem to have a lack of knowledge about concussions, there are also other reasons why they did not report them. Professional, college, and high school teams need to continue to educate their athletes about what a concussion is and why they should never hide symptoms or continue to play without getting checked out. Playing with a concussion could have a lasting effect on the athlete’s life outside of sports. What is the effect of concussions on athletes’ performance in the classroom and on the playing field? Over the last few years, there has been a great deal of debate about how soon after a concussion an athlete should return to competition. Last year a college football coach, Brady Hoke from Michigan, put a student-athlete back in a game after he had experienced symptoms of a concussion and ended up being diagnosed with a concussion after he was taken out of the game (Quinn, 2015). Coach Hoke ended up getting fired due to the backlash from this incident and the team’s overall performance. Recently, many researchers have begun to study what the after effects of concussions are on peoples’ daily lives and how they affect the student’s performance in the classroom and on the field. Currently experts cannot agree on a protocol to use to determine when athletes should return to school after a concussion. Ransom et al. (2015) conducted a study with a purpose of, “What is the nature and extent of academic effects in symptomatic students who have sustained concussions?” Their sample population consisted of 349 students between the ages of 5 and 18, who completed an initial …show more content…
(2005) conducted testing using the ImPACT computerized neuropsychological testing platform on 104 high school and college athletes who had experienced a cerebral concussion while playing sports. This testing method is designed to “identify cognitive impairment following a concussive injury (McClincy et al., 2005).” The participants were first tested using the ImPACT testing platform to find their baseline and once they were diagnosed with a concussion, they were tested at least three more times. Before the athletes were allowed to return to competition, their results after their concussion were compared to the baseline to make sure that their levels returned to normal. The results of this study revealed that majority of the concussions suffered were grade 1 concussions, which are the most common form of concussions and where symptoms only last for 15 minutes. It also found that there was a significant difference in athletes’ verbal and visual memory levels when comparing the baseline results to the post-concussion results. This relates with what Mcgrath et al. (2012) found in their study, which also used ImPACT testing on student athletes. This study wanted to investigate the post-exertion neurocognitive performance of high school athletes who were recovering from concussions. The researchers grouped the student athletes based on their RCI, which stands for the reliable change index and shows whether there is a decline in the athlete’s neurocognitive performance. Mcgrath et al. then conducted ImPACT testing and the results revealed that there was not a significant difference between the groups in terms of post-concussive symptoms (2012). The results from the study by McClincy et al. also showed that some cognitive deficits continued even after the athlete’s other symptoms went away (McClincy et al.,