Patterns and predictors of concussion symptom presentations in NCAA athletes

Abstract

Sport-related concussion (SRC) is a complex injury, and SRCs are notably prevalent among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes. We analysed SRCs and associated exposure data collected within the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program during 2014-2019. A total of 1,709 SRCs were reported with complete symptom profiles during the study period (Women's sports n = 499; Men's sports n = 1,210). Event type and academic class year most commonly predicted specific symptom presentations among athletes in men's sports, while symptom presentation among athletes in women's sports was most commonly predicted by class year and sport classification. We observed 78 and 69 significant pairwise symptom dependencies in men's and women's sports athletes, respectively; odds of longer symptom resolution time were higher with greater counts of symptoms with strongest cross-domain associations. Our findings highlight several contextual predictors of specific symptom presentations and identify parsimonious symptom subsets that may indicate protracted recovery among men's and women's sports athletes.