Browsing by Author "Parsons, John T."

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    Concussion-Related Protocols and Preparticipation Assessments Used for Incoming Student-Athletes in National Collegiate Athletic Association Member Institutions
    (Journal of Athletic Training/NATA, 2015-11) Kerr, Zachary Y.; Snook, Erin M.; Lynall, Robert C.; Dompier, Thomas P.; Sales, Latrice; Parsons, John T.; Hainline, Brian; School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
    CONTEXT: National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) legislation requires that member institutions have policies to guide the recognition and management of sport-related concussions. Identifying the nature of these policies and the mechanisms of their implementation can help identify areas of needed improvement. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the characteristics and prevalence of concussion-related protocols and preparticipation assessments used for incoming NCAA student-athletes. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Web-based survey. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Head athletic trainers from all 1113 NCAA member institutions were contacted; 327 (29.4%) completed the survey. INTERVENTION(S): Participants received an e-mail link to the Web-based survey. Weekly reminders were sent during the 4-week window. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Respondents described concussion-related protocols and preparticipation assessments (eg, concussion history, neurocognitive testing, balance testing, symptom checklists). Descriptive statistics were compared by division and football program status. RESULTS: Most universities provided concussion education to student-athletes (95.4%), had return-to-play policies (96.6%), and obtained the number of previous concussions sustained by incoming student-athletes (97.9%). Fewer had return-to-learn policies (63.3%). Other concussion-history-related information (e.g., symptoms, hospitalization) was more often collected by Division I universities. Common preparticipation neurocognitive and balance tests were the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT; 77.1%) and Balance Error Scoring System (46.5%). In total, 43.7% complied with recommendations for preparticipation assessments that included concussion history, neurocognitive testing, balance testing, and symptom checklists. This was due to moderate use of balance testing (56.6%); larger proportions used concussion history (99.7%), neurocognitive testing (83.2%), and symptom checklists (91.7%). More Division I universities (55.2%) complied with baseline assessment recommendations than Division II (38.2%, χ2 = 5.49, P = .02) and Division III (36.1%, χ2 = 9.11, P = .002) universities. CONCLUSIONS: National Collegiate Athletic Association member institutions implement numerous strategies to monitor student-athletes. Division II and III universities may need additional assistance to collect in-depth concussion histories and conduct balance testing. Universities should continue developing or adapting (or both) return-to-learn policies.
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    Epidemiology of National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's and Women's Cross-Country Injuries, 2009-2010 Through 2013-2014
    (National Athletic Trainers' Association, 2016-01) Kerr, Zachary Y.; Kroshus, Emily; Grant, Jon; Parsons, John T.; Folger, Dustin; Hayden, Ross; Dompier, Thomas P.; Department of Kinesiology, School of Physical Education and Tourism Management
    CONTEXT: Recent injury-surveillance data for collegiate-level cross-country athletes are limited. OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiology of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's and women's cross-country injuries during the 2009-2010 through 2013-2014 academic years. DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. SETTING: Aggregate injury and exposure data collected from 25 men's and 22 women's cross-country programs, providing 47 and 43 seasons of data, respectively. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Collegiate student-athletes participating in men's and women's cross-country during the 2009-2010 through 2013-2014 academic years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Injury rates; injury rate ratios (RRs); injury proportions by body site, diagnosis, and apparatus; and injury proportion ratios were reported with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: The Injury Surveillance Program captured 216 injuries from men's cross-country and 260 injuries from women's cross-country, leading to injury rates of 4.66/1000 athlete-exposures (AEs) for men (95% CI = 4.04, 5.28) and 5.85/1000 AEs for women (95% CI = 5.14, 6.56). The injury rate in women's cross-country was 1.25 times that of men's cross-country (95% CI = 1.05, 1.50). Most injuries affected the lower extremity (men = 90.3%, women = 81.9%). The hip/groin-injury rate in women (0.65/1000 AEs) was higher than that in men (0.15/1000 AEs; RR = 4.32; 95% CI = 1.89, 9.85). The ankle-injury rate in men (0.60/1000 AEs) was higher than that in women (0.29/1000 AEs; RR = 2.07; 95% CI = 1.07, 3.99). Common diagnoses were strains (men = 19.9%, women = 20.4%) and inflammation (men = 18.1%, women = 23.8%). The majority of injuries were classified as overuse (men = 57.6%, women = 53.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with prior research, injury distributions varied between male and female athletes, and the injury rate among females was higher. Understanding the epidemiology of these cross-country injuries may be important for developing appropriate preventive interventions.
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    Injury Rates in Age-Only Versus Age-and-Weight Playing Standard Conditions in American Youth Football
    (SAGE Publications, 2015-09) Kerr, Zachary Y.; Marshall, Stephen W.; Simon, Janet E.; Hayden, Ross; Snook, Erin M.; Dodge, Thomas; Gallo, Joseph A.; Valovich McLeod, Tamara C.; Mensch, James; Murphy, Joseph M.; Nittoli, Vincent C.; Dompier, Thomas P.; Ragan, Brian; Yeargin, Susan W.; Parsons, John T.; School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
    BACKGROUND: American youth football leagues are typically structured using either age-only (AO) or age-and-weight (AW) playing standard conditions. These playing standard conditions group players by age in the former condition and by a combination of age and weight in the latter condition. However, no study has systematically compared injury risk between these 2 playing standards. PURPOSE: To compare injury rates between youth tackle football players in the AO and AW playing standard conditions. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. METHODS: Athletic trainers evaluated and recorded injuries at each practice and game during the 2012 and 2013 football seasons. Players (age, 5-14 years) were drawn from 13 recreational leagues across 6 states. The sample included 4092 athlete-seasons (AW, 2065; AO, 2027) from 210 teams (AW, 106; O, 104). Injury rate ratios (RRs) with 95% CIs were used to compare the playing standard conditions. Multivariate Poisson regression was used to estimate RRs adjusted for residual effects of age and clustering by team and league. There were 4 endpoints of interest: (1) any injury, (2) non-time loss (NTL) injuries only, (3) time loss (TL) injuries only, and (4) concussions only. RESULTS: Over 2 seasons, the cohort accumulated 1475 injuries and 142,536 athlete-exposures (AEs). The most common injuries were contusions (34.4%), ligament sprains (16.3%), concussions (9.6%), and muscle strains (7.8%). The overall injury rate for both playing standard conditions combined was 10.3 per 1000 AEs (95% CI, 9.8-10.9). The TL injury, NTL injury, and concussion rates in both playing standard conditions combined were 3.1, 7.2, and 1.0 per 1000 AEs, respectively. In multivariate Poisson regression models controlling for age, team, and league, no differences were found between playing standard conditions in the overall injury rate (RRoverall, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.4-2.6). Rates for the other 3 endpoints were also similar (RRNTL, 1.1 [95% CI, 0.4-3.0]; RRTL, 0.9 [95% CI, 0.4-1.9]; RRconcussion, 0.6 [95% CI, 0.3-1.4]). CONCLUSION: For the injury endpoints examined in this study, the injury rates were similar in the AO and AW playing standards. Future research should examine other policies, rules, and behavioral factors that may affect injury risk within youth football.
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    Interassociation Consensus Statement on Cardiovascular Care of College Student-Athletes
    (American College of Cardiology Foundation, 2016-04) Hainline, Brian; Drezner, Jonathan; Baggish, Aaron; Harmon, Kimberly G.; Emery, Michael S.; Myerburg, Robert J.; Sanchez, Eduardo; Molossi, Silvana; Parsons, John T.; Thompson, Paul D.; Kinesiology, School of Physical Education and Tourism Management
    Cardiovascular evaluation and care of college student-athletes is gaining increasing attention from both the public and medical communities. Emerging strategies include screening of the general athlete population, recommendations of permissible levels of participation by athletes with identified cardiovascular conditions, and preparation for responding to unanticipated cardiac events in athletic venues. The primary focus has been sudden cardiac death and the utility of screening with or without advanced cardiac screening. The National Collegiate Athletic Association convened a multidisciplinary task force to address cardiovascular concerns in collegiate student-athletes and to develop consensus for an interassociation statement. This document summarizes the task force deliberations and follow-up discussions, and includes available evidence on cardiovascular risk, pre-participation evaluation, and the recognition of and response to cardiac arrest. Future recommendations for cardiac research initiatives, education, and collaboration are also provided.
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    The National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program: Continuing Injury-Surveillance Efforts Through the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (Allen Press, 2021) Parsons, John T.; Hainline, Brian; Chandran, Avinash; Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Sciences