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  • Title: Tackling concussion in professional rugby union: a case-control study of tackle-based risk factors and recommendations for primary prevention.
    Author: Cross MJ, Tucker R, Raftery M, Hester B, Williams S, Stokes KA, Ranson C, Mathema P, Kemp S.
    Journal: Br J Sports Med; 2019 Aug; 53(16):1021-1025. PubMed ID: 29021244.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND/AIM: Concussion, the most common injury in professional rugby union, occurs most commonly during the tackle. Thus, we investigated the association between tackle characteristics and concussion. METHODS: 182 video clips of tackles leading to clinically diagnosed concussion and 4619 tackles that did not were coded across three professional rugby union competitions. A variable selection process was undertaken to identify the most important variables for interpretation. A multivariate generalised linear model was used to model the association between retained variables and concussion risk. Magnitude-based inferences provided an interpretation of the real-world relevance of the outcomes. RESULTS: The four retained variables were: accelerating player, tackler speed, head contact type and tackle type. Overall, 70% of concussions occurred to the tackler and 30% to the ball carrier. There was a higher risk of concussion if the tackler accelerated into the tackle (OR: 2.49, 95% CI 1.70 to 3.64) or the tackler was moving at high speed (OR: 2.64, 95% CI 1.92 to 3.63). Head contact with the opposing player's head (OR: 39.9, 95% CI 22.2 to 71.1) resulted in a substantially greater risk of concussion compared with all other head contact locations. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that reduce the speed and acceleration of the tackler and reduce exposure to head-to-head contact would likely reduce concussion risk in professional rugby union.
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