Author(s): GORGONI, G., LOZANO, R., POPPERWELL, J., KUNOROZVA, L., BALAKRISHNA, Y., BROWN, J., MEYER, T., Institution: UNIVERSITY OF SAARLAND, Country: GERMANY, Abstract-ID: 2134

INTRODUCTION:
Football and rugby union (‘rugby’) are collision sports that are associated with head injuries, including sports-related concussions (SRC). This systematic review aimed to compare the incidence of SRCs and other head injuries between football and rugby players, according to different variables (i.e., age, sex, level of participation, type of injury and setting), to derive mechanistic and other causal insights from it.
METHODS:
Three electronic databases (EBSCOhost, Web of Science, PubMed) were searched. Studies on the incidence of head injuries and/or SRCs in players aged 12 years and older that were published in the English language in peer-reviewed journals from 2001 until 2022 were included. Four authors independently evaluated the studys eligibility and quality. The extracted data on head injuries and SRC were pooled in a meta-analysis.
RESULTS:
The search yielded 1973 results of which 55 articles for rugby and 13 for football were included in the final analysis. Overall, the comparison between sports showed that rugby players registered higher rates of head injuries (including SRCs) than football players (7.29/1000 hours vs. 0.48/1000 hours), and the difference is significant (< 0.0001). The incidence rate ratio (IRR) between the two sports is 15.2 per 1000 hours, meaning that the injury occurrence is 15 times higher in rugby compared to football. Across variables, such as, age, gender and level of participation, the injury incidence rate was not significant.
CONCLUSION:
The higher rate of SRCs in rugby is most likely due to the difference in the frequency and severity of collisions between the two sports. In fact, the nature of physical contact in rugby, including tackles and scrums, contributes significantly to the increased risk of head injuries when compared to football. The absence of significant differences in concussion incident rates across variables such as sex, age, and level of participation within sports might suggest a degree of parity between football and rugby concerning head injuries risks.