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Understanding sport-related concussion in Ladies Gaelic Football: prevalence, management practices, and clinical assessment

Leahy, Róisín orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-9902-5683 (2022) Understanding sport-related concussion in Ladies Gaelic Football: prevalence, management practices, and clinical assessment. PhD thesis, Dublin City University.

Abstract
Background: Ladies Gaelic Football (LGF) is a popular Irish female sport. Sport-related concussion (SRC) has been identified as a concern in LGF, however little is known about its prevalence and management in LGF. A lack of normative and reliability data on multi-domain assessments in female, community-sport athletes increases the clinical challenges of managing SRC in LGF. Aim: (i) Examine SRC prevalence and management practices in LGF, (ii) Investigate factors associated with SRC management behaviour, (iii) Develop normative data for a multi-domain SRC assessment in LGF players, and (iv) Assess the test-retest reliability of this assessment after sixand twelve-months. Methods: We collected data on 657 LGF players’ previous experiences with SRC using an online survey. We developed a multi-domain SRC assessment to capture the full range of SRC signs and symptoms. One hundred and thirty-eight participants completed an initial assessment. Forty-seven participants were re-assessed after six months and a separate group of 72 participants were reassessed after twelve months. Results: A suspected SRC was sustained by 17.5% during the previous season and SRCs were often poorly managed. The main factor associated with appropriate management behaviour was being diagnosed by a medical professional. Normative data were presented on a multi-domain SRC assessment. Adolescent participants demonstrated worse scores on several cognitive and vestibular measures compared with adult participants (p<0.05), however no differences in baseline were reported based on playing level or concussion history. Test-retest reliability for the GSC, CP Screen, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 was moderate after six and twelve-months, however all other tests showed inadequate reliability. Conclusion: SRC is an issue in LGF and may be poorly managed, putting players at risk of complications. Clinicians should consider utilising a multi-domain assessment to assist in diagnosing and rehabilitating SRC. However, due to poor test-retest reliability, there may be limited applicability for baseline testing.
Metadata
Item Type:Thesis (PhD)
Date of Award:November 2022
Refereed:No
Supervisor(s):O'Connor, Siobhán, Whyte, Enda and Rochfort, Keith
Uncontrolled Keywords:Concussion; Female community sports
Subjects:Medical Sciences > Health
Medical Sciences > Sports sciences
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Health and Human Performance
Funders:Irish Research Council, Ladies Gaelic Football Association
ID Code:27701
Deposited On:18 Nov 2022 09:59 by Siobhan O'connor . Last Modified 18 Nov 2022 09:59
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