Abstract
Objectives To investigate which United Kingdom (UK) amateur sporting organisations have published sports-related concussion (SRC) guidelines, their accessibility and the extent to which they follow the Berlin statement recommendations. This article is targeted at those involved with designing and implementing SRC guidelines in amateur sport. Design Scoping Review. Data Sources The SRC guidelines of 15 sporting organisations were accessed through public materials available from the official organisation website. Eligibility Criteria: To be included in this review, sports must enjoy broad participation by UK amateur athletes with a high risk of athletes sustaining an SRC. Results: 15 sporting organisations were included in this review with two, British Cycling and British Eventing, found not to have published SRC guidelines. There was found to be a large discrepancy between the extent to which the sport-specific guides followed the Berlin statement recommendations. Conclusions: The large discrepancy between the contents of the SRC guidelines may be putting the health of athletes at risk. We recommend the UK government publish standardised concussion guidelines based on the latest scientific research that must be used by all UK amateur sport groups.
Highlights
It is widely recognised in sports medicine that sports-related concussion (SRC) is one of the most difficult injuries to detect, with more needed to be done to recognise, remove and treat athletes with the condition [1]
Concussion guidelines were found for all sporting organisations except British Cycling (BC) and British Equestrian (BE), and as a result were excluded from the report
Whilst the health benefits of physical activity far outweigh the potential risks of serious injury, it is important that athletes have an awareness of what to do if an injury such as an SRC occurs
Summary
This scoping review was based on the six step methodological framework outlined by Arksey and O’Malley [11] informed by Levac et al [12]. The following research questions were addressed: Which sporting governing bodies have published concussion guidelines appropriate for use in amateur sport in the UK? Do these concussion guidelines follow the recommendations outlined in the Berlin statement?. What improvements can be made to future concussion guidelines? To be included in this review, the sports had to enjoy wide participation at an amateur level within the UK, and participants had to have a high risk of sustaining an SRC by participating in them. Participation levels were taken from the Sport England website [14].
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