ArticleSports medicine - open2017
Evidence of Concussion Signs in National Rugby League Match Play: a Video Review and Validation Study.
Article in Sports medicine - open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Role of video review for sport-related concussion identification: a systematic review.British journal of sports medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Concussion and long-term cognitive impairment among professional or elite sport-persons: a systematic review.Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- High Energy Side and Rear American Football Head Impacts Cause Obvious Performance Decrement on Video.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2020Trial
- Tackle-Based Head Injury Assessment (HIA) Risk Factors in the National Rugby League: Does the Ball Carrier's Evasion Technique or the Tackler's Head Position Influence HIA Risk?European journal of sport science · 2026Article
- Peak Power: A Severity Measure for Head Acceleration Events Associated with Suspected Concussions.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Observational
- Video Review and Clinical Screening of Suspected and Medically Diagnosed Concussions in the National Rugby League Women's Premiership.Sports medicine - open · 2025Article
- Examining concussions in adult male, senior-grade semi-elite rugby league in Australia: A retrospective observational video review case series.JSAMS plus · 2025Article
- Head Kinematics Associated with Off-Field Head Injury Assessment (HIA1) Events in a Season of English Elite-Level Club Men's and Women's Rugby Union Matches.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- A Machine Learning Approach to Concussion Risk Estimation Among Players Exhibiting Visible Signs in Professional Hockey.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- Tackle Characteristics Resulting in Potential Head Injuries in Elite Men's Rugby League: A Video Analysis Study of 746 Tackles.European journal of sport science · 2025Article
- Head injury assessment in youth men's rugby league players: An evaluation of game play characteristics and video review of potential concussion signs.JSAMS plus · 2024Article
- Current Clinical Concepts: A Framework for Concussion Management Strategies in Law Enforcement Officers.Journal of athletic training · 2024Article
- How to harness and improve on video analysis for youth rugby player safety: a narrative review.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2023Review
- A case-control study of tackle based head impact event (HIE) risk factors from the first three seasons of the National Rugby League Women's competition.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Article
- An assessment of current concussion identification and diagnosis methods in sports settings: a systematic review.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2022Article
- Examining for Cavum Septum Pellucidum and Ventricular Enlargement in Retired Elite-Level Rugby League Players.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- A Case-Control Study of Tackle-Based Head Injury Assessment (HIA) Risk Factors in the National Rugby League.Sports medicine - open · 2021Article
- Video Analysis and Verification of Direct Head Impacts Recorded by Wearable Sensors in Junior Rugby League Players.Sports medicine - open · 2021Article
- Genetic Factors That Could Affect Concussion Risk in Elite Rugby.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMany professional sports have introduced sideline video review to help recognise concussions. The reliability and validity of identifying clinical and observable signs of concussion using video analysis has not been extensively explored. This study examined the reliability and validity of clinical signs of concussion using video analysis in the National Rugby League (NRL).
methodsAll 201 professional NRL matches from the 2014 season were reviewed to document six signs of possible concussion (unresponsiveness, slow to get up, clutching/shaking head, gait ataxia, vacant stare, and seizure).
resultsA total of 127,062 tackles were reviewed. Getting up slowly was the most common observable sign (2240 times in the season, 1.8% of all tackles) but only 223 times where it appeared to be a possible concussion (0.2% of all tackles and 10.0% of the times it occurred). Additionally, clutching/shaking the head occurred 361 times (on 212 occasions this sign appeared to be due to a possible concussion), gait ataxia was observed 102 times, a vacant stare was noted 98 times, unresponsiveness 52 times, and a possible seizure 4 times. On 383 occasions, one or more of the observable signs were identified and deemed associated with a possible concussion. There were 175 incidences in which a player appeared to demonstrate two or more concussion signs, and 54 incidences where a player appeared to demonstrate three or more concussion signs. A total of 60 diagnosed concussions occurred, and the concussion interchange rule was activated 167 times. Intra-rater reliability (κ = 0.65-1.00) was moderate to perfect for all six video signs; however, the inter-rater reliability was not as strong (κ = 0.22-0.76). Most of the signs had relatively low sensitivity (0.18-0.75), but high specificity (0.85-1.00).
conclusionsUsing video replay, observable signs of concussion appear to be sensitive to concussion diagnoses when reviewing known injuries among professional rugby league players. When reviewing an entire season, however, certain signs occur very commonly and did not identify concussion. Thus, the implementation of video review in the NRL is challenging, but can provide a useful addition to sideline concussion identification and removal from play decisions.
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