ORIGINAL ARTICLES  SPORT INJURIES AND REHABILITATION 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2011 December;51(4):625-32

Copyright © 2012 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Effect of snowboard-related concussion safety education for recognizing possible concussions

Koh J. O. ✉

Department of Oriental Sports Medicine, Daegu Haany University, Ho, South Korea

AIM: The aim of this study was to examine the understanding of snowboard-related concussion and to measure the recognition of possible concussion occurrence after an intervention of snowboard-related concussion safety education in snowboarding.
METHODS: Incidence cohort design. Setting: 2008-2009 season Gangwon-do Ski resorts, South Korea. A total of 208 university students (female-72; male-136; age-18 to 32) who registered for a snowboarding class and received credit participated in this project. Snowboard-related concussion safety education class was administered for 30 minutes before the snowboard class began. The knowledge of snowboard-related concussion before and after the safety education was evaluated. Concussion data were collected via a self-report case form at the last day of snowboarding class. The incidence of possible concussion and factors associated with concussions were analyzed by χ2 test.
RESULTS: The mean score of snowboard-related concussion knowledge improved from fifteen points to eighteen points out of 20 total points possible. Overall the incidence of concussion was 10 per 100 snowboarder-exposures. χ2 tests showed concussion rates to be significantly different in female snowboarders (P=0.00) and in helmet users (P=0.02).
CONCLUSION: The incidence of possible concussion is high among snowboarding class participants. Emphasis should be given for instituting pre-participation balance training, especially for females to reduce falling in snowboarding. To verify the effects of pre-participation balance training and falling results in a concussion, more research is needed in the future.