New McGill research shows that CFL players continue to hide concussions
A new study by McGill researchers concludes that CFL players continue to under-report their concussions. The paper, "Why Professional Football Players Chose Not to Reveal Their Concussion Symptoms During a Practice or Game," was published this month in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine.
The team of four McGill researchers includes Drs. Gordon Bloom and Jeff Caron, of our Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education. Their partners are Dr. J. Scott Delaney, Department of Emergency Medicine, and Dr. José Correa, Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Drs. Bloom and Delaney are members of the Faulty of Education's McGill Research Centre for Physical Activity and Health (PATH).
The research team, with the aid of the league and the players' association, studied 454 players from the Canadian Football League. Among other details, their results show that only about 20% of players always reported a concussion to the medical staff.
Gordon Bloom is a Professor of Sport Psychology at McGill University who has worked with the world’s leading coaches and athletes as both a researcher and sport psychology practitioner for over 20 years. He is currently the director of the McGill Sport Psychology Research Laboratory, where their research looks at the psychosocial aspects of post concussion rehabilitation in athletes. Jeff Caron received his doctorate from McGill's Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education (KPE). He worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow with KPE until late 2017, and is currently working as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Yale School of Medicine at Yale University.
[read the full text of the study: "Why Professional Football Players Chose Not to Reveal Their Concussion Symptoms During a Practice or Game," Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine]
Articles based on their report, and interviews with Dr. Delaney, appeared with numerous news sources including: