It is my pleasure to introduce the 6th edition of Sports Issue of JCCA. The last 5 years have been very successful to showcase Sports chiropractic research. You will find this issue very versatile and filled with interesting and thought provoking manuscripts. It covers hot topics such as, “Chiropractors tackling the inactivity epidemic”, “Concussions in the NHL”, “Early sports specialization” a...

Reducing the frequency and severity of concussions from sport is an important issue in public health currently addressed by a multifaceted approach. Given the large number of participants and the comparatively high risk of injury, American football is an important sport to consider when examining concussion management practices. Focusing on American football at the collegiate level, this manusc...

Traumatic brain injury, specifically concussion, is prevalent in contact sports. In the United States (US) each year, 170 million adults participate in physical recreational activities, and 38 million children and adolescents participate in organized sports. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that in this group ~1.6 to 3.8 million concussions occur annually. Recent class-action lawsuits i...

The management of patients with sports-related concussion (SRC) is comprehensive and includes preseason planning, education, initial evaluation, postinjury assessment, disposition, return-to-play decisions, and consideration of long-term brain health. Several recent publications have addressed sports concussion management using the best available evidence, and we review them here. The diagnosis...

BACKGROUND Ice hockey and football players suffering concussions might have an increased risk for injuries afterwards. We aimed to investigate if concussions predisposed athletes for subsequent sport injuries. METHODS Patient data were obtained from a data base established at the University Hospital in Umea, Sweden. Athletes who had suffered a concussion were included if they had been aged be...

Abstract Football may be America’s most popular sport, but with growing evidence of the risk sport-associated concussions, some adults are reconsidering which sports to encourage children play. Using data from a nationally representative sample 958 respondents, we examine how political party, belief in patriotic displays attention concussion news, social class, and race associated support for p...

Mild sports-related concussions, in which there is no loss of consciousness, account for >75% of all sports-related brain injury. Universal agreement on concussion definition and severity grading does not exist. Grading systems represent expertise of clinicians and researchers yet scientific evidence is lacking. Most used loss of consciousness and post-traumatic amnesia as markers for grading c...

The incidence of all-cause concussions in the United States is estimated to range from 1.6 to 3.8 million annually, with the reported number of sport- or recreation-related concussions increasing dramatically, especially in youth sports.(1,2) Additionally, the use of roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan has propelled the incidence of concussion and other traumatic brain injuries to the highes...

BACKGROUND Athletes with injury-related pain, especially National Football League (NFL) players, are at increased risk for opioid use and misuse which may result in medical, psychiatric and social problems. This is the first study to evaluate the intersection of sports pain and opioid use and misuse among former NFL players. METHODS A telephone survey of 644 retired NFL players from the 2009 ...

A prospective cohort study was used to quantify risk factors for sports concussions. Analysis was based on a stratified cluster sample of North Carolina high school athletes followed during 1996–1999. Clustering was by school and sport, and the sample included 15,802 athletes with 1–8 seasons of follow-up per athlete. Concussion rates were estimated for 12 sports, and risk factors were quantifi...