Concussion symptom reporting in athletes - Research Paper Example

Concussion symptom reporting in athletes Grade (25th, Oct. Concussion symptom reporting in athletes Concussions refer to a mild traumatic brain injury, occurring in the form of a head injury that is accompanied by a temporary loss of brain function, where the normal cognitive, physical and the emotional functionalities of the individual suffering the injury are interrupted (Bryant, 2008). Concussions are common occurrences to athlete students. However, there is a great tendency of student athletes failing to report the occurrence of concussion symptoms, most of the time to avoid losing play time.

Due to the high tendencies of underreporting or even failure to report concussions at all amongst the student athlete, it has become increasingly difficult to quantify the rate of occurrence of concussions among the student athletes, thus making it difficult to effectively develop the necessary measures that can be applied to address the problem (Pearce, 2007). The continued engagement in play, or any other activity after the occurrence of concussions, can lead to more severe consequences in the form of aggravated brain damage and loss of the normal functionalities.

Thus, it is essential that students experiencing concussion symptoms should get immediate rest, while medical help is sought. However, while it is now universally accepted that students experiencing concussions should not resume play the same day, and neither should they be engaged in the training for the play, until they have been cleared by clinicians, it is not always the case (Bigler, 2008). Student athletes have preferred not to report the occurrence of concussion symptoms, to avoid losing the play opportunity.

Therefore, this research project aims at delving deeply into the issue of concussion reporting by students, both in colleges and in high school. The study seeks to analyze the history of concussion, especially in relation to student gaming. Statistical data will be gathered in relation to the cases of occurrence of concussions in student athletes, to act as the basis for further scrutiny of the issue. In addition to studying and collecting historical data in relation to occurrence of concussions in student athletes, the study will also seek to establish the milestones that have been made in creating the awareness of concussions to student athletes.

The research will seek to delve deeply into the issue of the symptoms of concussions, with the aim of demystifying the major differences between the occurrence of concussion symptoms, and the occurrence of other mild head illnesses, such as headache. The study further seeks to differentiate the concussion symptoms in student athletes, from the other physical and emotional illnesses, such as amnesia and general tiredness, which could easily be mistaken for the occurrence of concussions (Gordon, Dooley & Wood, 2006).

This study further seeks to engage in analyzing the importance of concussion symptoms reporting, while also seeking to understand whether the occurrence of injury on the head, either from the front or the back, has any impact in generating different concussion symptoms. Further, this study seeks to develop the appropriate measures that should be applied to ensure that the occurrence of concussion symptoms among the student athletes is reported, while also giving recommendations on the necessary steps that can enhance this reporting.

Works CitedBigler, D. (2008). Neuropsychology and clinical neuroscience of persistent post-concussive syndrome. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 14 (1): 1–22.Bryant, A. (2008). Disentangling mild traumatic brain injury and stress reactions. New England Journal of Medicine 358 (5): 525–7.Gordon, E., Dooley, M & Wood, P. (2006). Descriptive epidemiology of concussion. Pediatric Neurology 34 (5): 376–8.Pearce, M. (2007). Observations on concussion. A review. European Neurology 59 (3–4): 113–9.