Sports-related brain injury in the general population: an epidemiological study
Open accessAbstract
Objectives To determine the incidence, nature and severity of all sports-related brain injuries in the general population.Design Population-based epidemiological incidence study.Methods Data on all traumatic brain injury events sustained during a sports-related activity were extracted from a dataset of all new traumatic brain injury cases (both fatal and non-fatal), identified over a one-year period in the Hamilton and Waikato districts of New Zealand. Prospective and retrospective case ascertainment methods from multiple sources were used. All age groups and levels of traumatic brain injury severity were included. Details of the registering injuries and recurrent injuries sustained over the subsequent year were obtained through medical/accident records and assessment interviews with participants.Results Of 1369 incident traumatic brain injury cases, 291 were identified as being sustained during a sports-related activity (21% of all traumatic brain injuries) equating to an incidence rate of 170 per 100,000 of the general population. Recurrent injuries occurred more frequently in adults (11%) than children (5%). Of the sports-related injuries 46% were classified as mild with a high risk of complications. Injuries were most frequently sustained during rugby, cycling and equestrian activities. It was revealed that up to 19% of traumatic brain injuries were not recorded in medical notes.Conclusions Given the high incidence of new and recurrent traumatic brain injury and the high risk of complications following injury, further sport specific injury prevention strategies are urgently needed to reduce the impact of traumatic brain injury and facilitate safer engagement in sports activities. The high levels of 'missed' traumatic brain injuries, highlights the importance in raising awareness of traumatic brain injury during sports-related activity in the general population.
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Most sports-related injuries were classified as mild TBI (46%) with a high risk of complications, including mainly cognitive dysfunction.
“Most sports-related injuries were classified as mild TBI (46%) with a high risk of complications, including mainly cognitive dysfunction (34).”
From Pituitary Dysfunction After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Clinical and Pathophysiological Approach (2015) · cites this paper as [34]
The Discussion (p. 10) says 98% of sports-related TBIs were classified as mild, while 46% of injuries were identified as having a high risk of further complications. The claim conflates those figures and adds that complications were mainly cognitive dysfunction; the Discussion instead gives intracranial lesions as an example and does not establish cognitive dysfunction as the main complication. (LLM, conf=0.91)
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- Authors
- Theadom, A., Starkey, N. J., Dowell, T., Hume, P. A., Kahan, M., McPherson, K., & Feigin, V.
- Affiliations
- Auckland University of Technology (NZ)
- University of Waikato (NZ)
- University of Otago (NZ)
- Corresponding author
- Theadom, Alice
- Venue
- Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-11
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 591-596
- ISSN
- 1440-2440 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2064933785
- Semantic Scholar
- 641f83c722588d06e26e1d2f497c5ddcfc8f52f8
- Cited by
- 92
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 3.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Journal of science and medicine in sport (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Commons (University of Waikato) (submittedVersion)
- ResearchSpace (University of Auckland) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Health Research Council of New Zealand
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports injuries and prevention
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances
- Keywords
- sports-related brain injury, traumatic brain injury, incidence, injury severity, injury recurrence, missed injuries, rugby, cycling, equestrian, injury prevention, general population
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Athletic Injuries, Brain Injuries, Child, Female, Humans, Male, New Zealand, Young Adult
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