New study focuses on repeat concussions

Injured college athletes will say just about anything concerning their health to get back into the game.

Lying to the doctor and trainer about a bum ankle or bruised shoulder is one thing, but lying about symptoms of a concussion can have lasting effects.

"They think hiding symptoms helps them, but it hurts them," University of Utah head athletic trainer Bill Bean said.

The numbers serve as proof. A study on concussions published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association indicates college football players who suffer a concussion are more likely to suffer another one if they return to the playing field too soon.

The findings are contained in two related studies of 2,905 players at 25 U.S. colleges from 1999 to 2001.

Kevin Guskiewicz, director of the sports medicine research laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, helped conduct both studies, which were funded in part by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

In one study, players with three or more concussions within seven years were three times more likely to suffer a repeat concussion than players with no concussions. And 30 percent of players with three or more concussions had symptoms lasting more than a week, compared with 7 percent of players with a first concussion.

Ninety-two percent of repeat concussions occurred within 10 days of the first head injury, and 75 percent occurred within a week, Guskiewicz said.

About 34 percent of college football players reportedly have had one concussion, and 20 percent have had more than one. In the NCAA alone, which represents 1,200 colleges and universities, there were nearly 58,000 football players in the 2001-02 season, the most recent data available, said David Klossner, NCAA assistant director of education outreach.

Concussions are a blow to the head that jostles the brain, which can cause swelling and/or bleeding. Symptoms can include confusion, loss of consciousness, headaches and nausea.

BYU head athletic trainer George Curtis said he takes each injury on a case-by-case basis. Often, releasing the player to return to action depends a lot on what the athlete says his or her current symptoms are.

"I think if they are honest with you, you can be relatively confident," Curtis said. "If they lie to you, like athletes sometimes do, you have to be careful and use your own judgment."

Utah State University has taken it one step further.

USU head athletic trainer Dale Mildenberger, in conjunction with Dr. Jonathan Finnoff, team physician, developed the Utah State concussion protocol to treat players.