Prevalence of Concussion in Quidditch

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of our study is to assess the rate of concussion occurring while engaging in nontraditional sports such as Quidditch, and the effects that injury during a novelty sport may have on concussion detection when compared to more traditional sports.BackgroundConcussions, once dismissed as nonconsequential, are rapidly attracting notice for acute and long-term health effects. Rates of recovery with repeated trauma is known to decrease with each occurrence. In novelty sports, regulation of concussions and proper return-to-play(RTP) protocol are not routinely enforced, resulting in repetitive injury to the detriment of players.Design/MethodsIRB approval was obtained prior to survey distribution to all players associated with Major League Quidditch (MLQ). Responses were recorded and analyzed.Results157 responses were received. 63% were male and 37% female with mean age 22.9. 146 (93%) respondents confirmed or denied quidditch-related head injury. 22 (15%) denied head injury and 124 (85%) indicated hitting their heads while participating in the sport. 19% of respondents indicated >10 head injuries. 67 (54%) reported suspected concussion with an additional 41 (33%) reporting formal diagnosis with at least one concussion. EMS reported 18 injuries at MLQ matches. 5 (27.8%) were preliminarily diagnosed with concussion. 3 had no further treatment, 1 RTP and 1 received basic care. 0 recieved formal neurologic evaluation. Players were also asked about head injuries sustained in non-quidditch activities for comparison. 43 (27%) reported having medically diagnosed concussions outside of quidditch. 53 (34%) reported at least one suspected concussion without formal diagnosis. 24 (15%) answered maybe.ConclusionsOur data supports that concussion is a significant burden in novelty sports such as quidditch. It is vital to recognize that with the rise of nontraditional sports, the prevalence of concussions in younger nontraditional athletes may be underreported and that concussion specialists must be cognizant of both traditional and novelty sports when evaluating long term effects of head trauma.

El Quidditch como herramienta para la asignatura de Educación Física. Revisión sistemática (Quidditch as a tool for the subject of Physical Education. Systematic review)

“…Respecto a las Principales lesiones que se destacan tras el estudio, la patología más repetida es Conmoción cerebral (n=6), estando presente en los manuscritos referidos a Medicina deportiva (Pennington et al, 2017;Tran et al, 2018;Pepper et al, 2019;Pennington et al, 2021;Fox et al, 2021;Singh et al, 2022). Además, se destaca que, en el último documento de Singh et al (2022), se mencionan los signos y síntomas que se sufren o se observan tras sufrir una conmoción cerebral.…”

“…En relación con ello, Brooks & Fuller (2006), hablan del conocimiento de las lesiones deportivas como dato esencial para desarrollar métodos de prevención, tratamientos, o estrategias de rehabilitación de las lesiones y secuelas producidas. Por otro lado, los manuscritos de Pennington et al (2017), Tran et al (2018), Pepper et al (2019), Pennington et al (2021), Fox et al (2021), y, Singh et al (2022, destacan como favorecedores para Evitar choques y golpes para prevenir las lesiones. Además, sólo existe un documento cuya aplicación en el aula sea Conocer el material (Carlson, 2011) y un solo manuscrito que hable de Evitar patrones estéticos (Traugutt et al, 2018).…”