Article Text
Abstract
Objective Rugby union (‘rugby’) is popular globally, with most of its participants being amateur. Concern regarding sport-related concussion (SRC) sustained during rugby is increasing. SRC occurs most frequently in the tackle, yet few interventions have aimed to mitigate this risk factor. This study investigated the influence of a lowered legal tackle height on SRC incidence in amateur rugby.
Design Cross-sectional analytical study: 2018 (control—standard tackle height) and 2019 (intervention—lowered legal tackle height) seasons.
Setting South African collegiate student rugby competition.
Participants Between 800 and 900 male amateur student players (age: 20±1.6 years) in each year.
Intervention Maximum legal tackle height lowered from line of the shoulder on the ball carrier to the line of the armpit.
Outcome measures Number of overall (medical attention) and time-loss (≥1 day lost) injuries, head injuries and SRCs in 2018 and 2019 (dependent variables); events associated with injury incidents (independent variables).
Results There was no statistically significant difference in incidences of time-loss injuries (IRR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.6 to 1.1; p=0.13), head injuries (IRR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.5 to 1.3; p=0.42) and SRC (IRR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.4 to 1.2; p=0.20). In 2018 and 2019, most time-loss head injuries (57%, n=43) and SRCs (55%, n=26) occurred during the tackle.
Conclusions Despite a trend towards reducing injuries, head injuries and SRC, lowering maximum legal tackle height to armpit level did not change SRC incidence in this amateur male rugby cohort. Most time-loss head injuries and SRCs occurred during the tackle. Further tackle-related interventions to reduce SRC incidence require investigation.
- concussion
- traumatic brain injury
- recreation / sports
Data availability statement
No data are available.
This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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Data availability statement
No data are available.
Footnotes
Twitter @RiaanvanTonder1, @jamesbrown06
Correction notice This article has been corrected since it was first published. The open access licence has been updated to CC BY.
Contributors The study was designed by JCB, KAS, WD, SH, LS and RvT. Data collection was carried out by RvT, LS, JCB and PV. Data analysis was carried out by RvT, JCB, SH, P-HB, EJ and KAS. The first draft of the manuscript was prepared by RvT. All authors contributed to revisions of the manuscript and approved the submitted version. RvT acts as guarantor.
Funding This study was supported by funding from World Rugby and the South African Medical Research Council.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.