The Risk of Concussion in Professional Sport - Literature review Example

The Risk of Concussion in Professional Sport The Risk of Concussion in Professional Sport Suffering a concussion isa common occurrence for professional sportspersons and is as a result of change in mental status due to disturbance caused by trauma. Suffering a concussion does not always lead to loss of consciousness, but symptoms like disorientation, poor coordination, or vision difficulties are common for concussed individuals. Professional physicians such as team doctors are tasked with the determination of extend of a concussion, which is always based on the length of time the athlete presents initial symptoms. The team doctor has to make a decision based on the comparison of these symptoms with an established grading scale before presenting the return to play guidelines for athlete. A simple concussion is experienced for less than fifteen minutes but an athlete can also suffer complex concussion, which can be due to the symptoms lasting longer, reoccur with exercise or when the athlete experiences unconsciousness (Australian Rugby League Commission, n.d). Increased scientific awareness about concussion in professional sports is informed by the long-term effect that such injuries have on physical, behavioural and cognitive capabilities of individuals. Athletes who suffer concussion indicate full recovery from the initial symptoms of concussion within short time, however, there are long-term effects especially on the with regard to slight alteration in their cognitive abilities. Health risks as a result of a concussion increase with the athlete getting suffering second concussion during a recovery period with second symptoms that are characterized by symptoms that continue for months or even death. Therefore, athletes who suffer repeated concussion have in many cases, been asked to stop playing for to avoid long-term or persistent post-concussion syndrome that might lead to physical complications, behavioural alteration and cognitive problems (Partridge, 2014a). Impediments to Managing Risk Management of concussion depends on the extent to which stakeholders in sport perceive the issue and the willingness to practice measures that will reduce occurrence in sports. Therefore, blame for continued occurrence of concussion should be directed towards various sports association that has the mandate to oversee the running of specific sports activities for failing to improve the sports by reducing chances of such occurrences. Blaming associations involved in governing the sport is part of philosophies of error management based on systems approach. This approach perceives human being as imperfect; therefore, errors should be expected to occur even when dealing with the best organizations. Additionally errors are not perceived as being causes, but as consequences that stem from organizational forces. Based on the systems approach, measures to curb injury-involving concussions should be on the perception that it is impossible to change human nature but conditions under which the sport is played can be changed due to their flexibility (Reason, 2000). In this case, measures taken by NRL reflected in the new guidelines for players demonstrating symptoms of concussion are effective if well implemented. The guidelines include punishment for teams that do not comply where they risk point deduction with interchange rules also being revised to give enough time to team doctors for them to make a comprehensive diagnosis. However, such measures are bound to fail especially in junior leagues where enforcement of the guidelines becomes difficult to implement (Proszenko, 2014). Partridge (2014b) gives the example of collision sports where player safety has been singled out as a priority but there are not been consistent efforts to introduce preventative measures against head injuries. Part of the reason for failure of associations such as NRL and AFL to introduce and implement measures to avoid head injuries is due to the assertion that it cannot be claimed authoritatively that concussion results in long-term neurological deterioration or cognitive harm. The associations have therefore worked with researchers and physicians to downplay the risks associated with concussion arguing that the media have exaggerated the problem. The negation of impact of concussion on the long-term health of athletes has reduced arguments on the advantages of measures to minimize risk associated with repeated concussions. Consequently, an assortment of measures that includes rules on contact, slow pace of play, or increasing period of break for players after suffering concussion. Given that spectators expect heavy collisions and tough style of play in sports such as rugby for them to enjoy the game, there have been concerns that introduction of rules that limit the level of contact will ultimately lower the level of enjoyment. This therefore implies sports associations have placed commercial considerations ahead of athletes’ health (Partridge, 2014a). Generally, employers have also sought to reduce their responsibility in cases where injury occurs during employee engagement in official duties. This has been made possible through insistence on injury proneness of the employees, which effectively blames individual characteristics for sustained injuries (Archer, Borthwick and Travers, 2012). Although there have not been extensive studies to support this stand, employers have adopted it while also dispelling facts such as increased risks of injury for workers operating in dangerous tasks as opposed to those in less frequently exposed. Therefore, social and physical environments as core factors contributing to injuries have received inadequate attention. Such factors grant teams and sports associations an avenue to escape blame when individuals are injured in the field. Instead of focusing on overall conditions surrounding the sport, the management would rather seek past injury records of a player as what is to blame for injuries such as concussions during the period of play (Quinlan, Bohle and Lamm, 2010). Quinlan, Bohle and Lamm (2010) note health practitioners such as psychologists have taken sides with the management while failing to address issues surrounding workplace injuries from worker perspective to avoid disruption of the production process. Partridge (2014a) notes the ethical considerations surrounding the decision allowing a player to go back into field of play where a team doctor is caught between the interests of the patient who is the athlete in this case and the team as an employer. Given the clash of interests between the medical status of the athlete and success of the team through winning, doctors find it difficult to make assessments favoured by either side. However, the team doctor has to be careful when deciding on the fitness levels of the player since the interests of the team is not always consistent to what is best for the athlete. Therefore, among the impediment to decisive dealing with the issue of concussion in professional sports is putting the health of the athlete before the team’s ambition to achieve success through winning. While the decision on player’s return to play is based on the medical assessment of the team doctors, Partridge (2014a) argues that best practice concussion management guidelines are in most cases not followed. Although some researchers had indicated lack of awareness about guidelines such as that provided in the Zurich Consensus recommendation, the author provides a different angle to the problem. Partridge (2014a) argues that lack of awareness should not be perceived as the main cause for professionals in sports not complying instead choosing to focus on the conflict of interest between the doctor, player and team. When minimizing the risk of injury, rules and regulations are not the main areas of consideration especially when there is stillroom for parties to avoid compliance. Quinlan, Bohle and Lamm (2010) note behavioral studies in the area of safety had indicated that having stringent safety rules and regulations encourages noncompliance as individuals are presented with very limited range of allowable action. Having strict rules to prevent concussion in professional sport will not be effective as it will only result in many individuals breaking established rules (Tombs and Whyte, 2007). Therefore, this supports the assertion made by Partridge (2014a) that rules are not the problem in dealing with concussion in professional sports. Rules should only provide generally accepted formalities while the team doctor, athlete and team make decisions that are best for all partiers based on the immediate condition of the player. Although the above argument has indicated the role of teams and doctors in managing concussions, each player also has an individual responsibility to reduce the risks associated with such injuries. Firstly, the player should know when they are in a physical shape that can sustain demands of the game. This can be achieved through making personal assessments of their physical wellbeing to ensure that they are not in physical or mental state that is not normal to them. Players should not choose or accept to be forced into field of play when they feel they are not in a proper mental state after taking a blow to the head. When in doubt of their wellbeing, players should accept that they run a risk of aggravating potential injury when they choose to continue playing. However, this is not the case in many cases as some players choose to continue playing even after previous concussions and the resultant symptoms. As noted by Partridge (2014b), some players have accepted that concussions are part of the game and are willing to suffer future health implications due to their professional choices. This implies unwillingness of players to avoid future health complications by retiring from sports. Therefore, passion for the game is also an impediment at an individual level as an athlete does not want to stop playing even when they put their health at risk. The argument on individual responsibility in preventing the rate of injury occurrence is based on the psychological approach that blames the victim and not the system. According to Reason (2000), blaming the victim instead of the system has higher emotional satisfaction than when focus is on the institution. In this case, personality and coping mechanism becomes important in controlling the situation inside and outside the field while also preventing long-term symptoms of concussion (Quinlan, Bohle and Lamm, 2010). In the case of concussions suffered during game time, sports agencies are inclined to follow the argument that professional players are autonomous agents who have made personal decisions to take part in the sport. Therefore, the player is aware and accepts potential risks that might result from engagement in the sport. Therefore, adult athletes suffering concussions or future symptoms of the injury are aware that it is part of the game (Partridge 2014b). According to Reason (2000), such arguments are based on the blame the victim approach where individuals are perceived as having the capability to choose between safe and unsafe behaviour modes. For that reason, the individual is held responsible when something goes wrong, which effectively isolate unsafe actions from organizational responsibility. However, Partridge (2014b) argues that for this to be the case, there is need for athletes to make decisions based on adequate information while there should also be an improvement in management of conflicts of interest and coercive pressure. This will ensure the player is aware of future implications of their choice especially in cases where repeat concussion occurs. Conclusion From the foregoing essay, concussion in professional sports has taken received considerable attention from researchers due to complexities surrounding management of the injury. It has been determined that while the symptoms of both simple and complex concussion are known, there have not been effective measures introduced to reduce its occurrence in sports. The reason for this difficult in managing risk of concussion occurrence is different held by stakeholders in the sports industry. The stakeholders who include team doctors, the team and player or patient will in most cases, have different assessment of the situation. While the doctor might want the patient to recover before going to the field, teams fear the risk that the side-lined player might have on the success of the team. The main interest of the team is to achieve success through winning, which might result in jeopardizing long-term health of the player. Arguments on impediments to managing risk can be segmented into blame the victim and blame the system ideologies. Blaming the victim is based on the argument that individual are fully aware of the risks involved in the game and therefore should take full responsibility of any eventuality including suffering a concussion that might occur during game time. Secondly, there is the blame the system approach which focuses on the management of sports including sports associations and team managements. These bodies should implement measures to protect their players from injuries by providing an environment that has practical measures and effective mechanism to guide implementation. In conclusion, blaming the system is the best approach in managing risks associated with concussion as it involves seeking proactive measures to reduce such occurrences. References Archer, R, Borthwick, K & Tepe, S 2012, WHS: a management guide, 3rd ed. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning. Australian Rugby League Commission, n.d. Management of Concussion in Rugby League. Available at: http://www.nrl.com/About/ReferenceCentre/ManagementofConcussioninRugbyLeague/tabid/10798/Default.aspx Accessed 3 Sept. 2014. Partridge, B., 2014a. Dazed and confused: Sports medicine, conflicts of interest and concussion management. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 11: 65 –74. Partridge, B., 2014b. Repeated head injuries highlight gaps in sports concussion management. The Conversation [Online], 25 June 2014. Available at: http://theconversation.com/repeated-head-injuries-highlight-gaps-in-sports-concussion-management-28395. Accessed 3 Sept. 2014. Proszenko, A., 2014. Doctor fears junior league players at risk despite new concussion rules. Sydney Morning Herald [Online], 6 March 2014. Available at: Accessed 3 Sept. 2014. Quinlan, M. Bohle, P. & Lamm, F. 2010. Managing occupational health and safety, 3rd ed. Melbourne: Palgrave Macmillan. Reason, J., 2000. Human error: Models and management. British Medical Journal, 320(7237): 768 – 770. Tombs, S. and Whyte, D. (2007), Safety Crimes, Cullompton: Willan Publishing. Read More