Concussion Study

The Varsity Athlete Concussion Research Project: A University of Toronto & Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Collaboration

Background
Concussions in sport continue to plague players, coaches, and sport medicine personnel with difficult questions about return to play. With professional-athletes, such as Eric Lindros, recently sidelined by concussion, the issues about recovery from head trauma has become increasingly publicized. A cerebral concussion is, by consensus definition, a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) in which there has been a traumatically induced alteration of consciousness that does not necessarily involve a loss of consciousness (c.f., Barth, 1989; Kelly, 1991, 1999; Esselman, 1995; American Academy of Neurology, 1997). Unfortunately, concussions in sport often go undiagnosed for a variety of reasons (e.g. athletes who do not want to risk loss of playing time do not report symptoms). Moreover, there is a lack of consensus regarding when it is appropriate for an athlete to return to play following a concussion, partially because of inadequate methods for diagnosing concussion and for determining when symptoms of concussion have fully resolved. These issues require our serious attention because of the growing body of knowledge concerning the consequences of returning to play too early following a concussion (Collins, Lovell, and McKeag, 1999; Echemendia, 1999) and of returning to play following multiple concussions (Collins et al, 1999).

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Active Women's Study

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