Para athlete concussion care following the Amsterdam 2022 International Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport: an urgent need for inclusivity within concussion research

Abstract

The Amsterdam 2022 International Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport (6th International Conference on Concussion in Sport) was the first Concussion in Sport Group (CISG) consensus to consider the para athlete.1 To date, a lack of research in para sport on most aspects of concussion has prevented the development of evidence-informed consensus on any aspects of concussion care for para athletes, resulting in a reliance on expert opinion.2 3 Prior to 2023, all CISG guidelines used the default that athletes all have ‘normal’ cognitive and neuromuscular (central and peripheral) functions. This default is not representative of the global population, and discounts para athletes who have impairments with wide heterogeneity, which may be visible or invisible. In 2021 the Concussion in Para Sport (CIPS) group, an international, voluntary, multidisciplinary group of para concussion-focused clinicians, researchers and athletes published the first position statement on concussion in para sport, which built on the 2017 CISG Consensus Statement.4 The prospective International Paralympic Committee injury and illness surveillance studies started in 2012, and while concussions were reported at the Pyeong Chang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games (n=4),5 the first detailed concussion information was reported for the Tokyo 2020 (n=9) and Beijing 2022 (n=4) Paralympic Games.6 7 Following publication of the Amsterdam 2022 Consensus on Concussion in Sport, the CIPS group present this editorial to (1) highlight that the guidance outlined in the first CIPS Position Statement can be adapted and applied to this most recent Amsterdam 2022 Consensus Statement …