Preseason Symptom Reporting and Cognition in Middle School Athletes with Past Concussions

This study examined the association between past concussions and current preseason symptom reporting and cognitive performance in 9,257 youth ages 11–13. Participants completed neurocognitive testing prior to participating in a school sports between 2009 and 2019. We stratified the sample by gender and number of prior concussions and assessed group differences on the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale total score and the ImPACT cognitive composite scores. Those with≥2 prior concussions reported more symptoms than those with 0 concussions (d=0.43–0.46). Multiple regressions examining the contribution of concussion history and developmental/health history to symptom reporting showed the most significant predictors of symptoms scores were (in descending order): treatment for a psychiatric condition, treatment for headaches, history of learning disability (in boys only), history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and age. Concussion history was the weakest statistically significant predictor in boys and not significant in girls. Cognitively, boys with 1 prior concussion had worse speed those with 0 concussions (d=0.11), and girls with≥2 prior concussions had worse verbal/visual memory than girls with 0 concussions (ds=0.38–0.39). In summary, youth with≥2 prior concussions reported more symptoms than those with no concussions. Boys with multiple concussions performed similarly on cognitive testing, while girls had worse memory scores.

Prevalence of risk behaviors and correlates of SARS-CoV-2 positivity among in-school contacts of confirmed cases in a Georgia school district in the pre-vaccine era, December 2020–January 2021

Background There is a continuing risk for COVID-19 transmission in school settings while transmission is ongoing in the community, particularly among unvaccinated populations. To ensure that schools continue to operate safely and to inform implementation of prevention strategies, it is imperative to gain better understanding of the risk behaviors of staff and students. This secondary analysis describes the prevalence of COVID-19 risk behaviors in an exposed population of students and school staff in the pre-vaccine era and identifies associations between these behaviors and testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. Methods From December 2020–January 2021, school staff and students exposed to confirmed COVID-19 cases in a Georgia school district were tested for SARS-CoV-2 and surveyed regarding risk behaviors in and out of school. Prevalence of risk behaviors was described by age group and school level, and associations with SARS-CoV-2 positivity were identified using chi squared tests. Results Overall, 717 students and 79 school staff participated in the investigation; SARS-CoV-2 positivity was 9.2%. In the 2 weeks prior to COVID-19 exposure, 24% of participants reported unmasked indoor time at school, 40% attended social gatherings with non-household members, and 71% visited out-of-school indoor locations, including 19% who ate indoors in restaurants. Frequencies of risk behaviors increased by age. Among students, 17% participated in school sports, of whom 86% participated without a mask. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was significantly associated with school sports and unmasked time in sports. Among K-5 students, positivity was associated with exposure to a teacher index case. Conclusions This analysis highlights the high prevalence of risk behaviors in an unvaccinated population exposed to COVID-19 in school and identifies an association between student sports participation and SARS-CoV-2 positivity. These findings illustrate the importance of school-level prevention measures to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission, including limiting close-contact indoor sports and promoting consistent mask use in unvaccinated individuals. Future research could explore the role of community vaccination programs as a strategy to reduce COVID-19 transmission and introductions into school settings.

Evaluation Index of School Sports Resources Based on Artificial Intelligence and Edge Computing

As the demand for education continues to increase, the relative lack of physical resources has become a bottleneck hindering the development of school physical education to a certain extent. This research mainly discusses the evaluation index system of school sports resources based on artificial intelligence and edge computing. Human resources, financial resources, and material resources in school sports resources are the three major resources in resource science. University sports stadium information publicity uses Internet technology to establish a sports information management platform and mobile Internet terminals to optimize university sports resources and stadium information management services. It uses artificial intelligence technology to improve venue information management. It establishes a comprehensive platform for venue management information, collects multidimensional information, provides information resources and accurate information push, and links venue information with public fitness needs. Using edge computing to realize nearby cloud processing of video data, reduce the phenomenon of black screen jams during live broadcast, improve data computing capabilities, and reduce users’ dependence on the performance of terminal devices, build a smart sports resource platform, combine artificial intelligence (AI) to create smart communities, smart venues, and realize intelligent operations such as event service operations and safety prevention and control in important event venues. During the live broadcast of the student sports league, the nearby cloud processing of video data is realized in the form of edge computing, which improves the data computing ability and reduces the performance dependence on the user terminal equipment itself. In the academic survey of college physical education teachers, undergraduates accounted for 26.99%, masters accounted for 60.3%, and doctoral degrees accounted for 12.8%. This research will help the reasonable allocation of school sports resources.

Epidemiology of overuse injuries in U.S. secondary school athletics from 2014–2015 to 2018–2019 using the National Athletic Treatment, Injury and Outcomes Network Surveillance Program.

ABSTRACT Context: With 8 million annual participants in the United States, the epidemiology of sports-related injuries in high school athletics has garnered significant interest. The most recent studies examining overuse injury rates in high school sports reported data from 2012–2013 and therefore may not reflect current overuse injury rates in high school sports. Objective: To 1) to determine overuse time-loss (TL) and non-time-loss (NTL) injury rates among high school student athletes using NATION-SP data collected from 2014–2015 to 2018–2019 and 2) compare overuse injury rates based on student-athlete gender defined by sport, sport, and injury location. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Setting: Online injury surveillance from 211 high schools (345 individual years of high school data). Patients or Other Participants: Athletes participating in secondary school-sponsored boys' and girls' sports. Main Outcome Measures: Boys' and girls' overuse injury data from the National Athletic Treatment, Injury and Outcomes Network Surveillance Program (NATION-SP) from the 2014–2015 to 2018–2019 school years were analyzed. Overuse injuries were identified using a combination of reported injury mechanism and diagnosis. TL injuries resulted in restriction from participation beyond the day of injury; a NTL injury did not result in restriction from participation beyond the day of injury or lost no time due to the injury. Injury counts, rates, and rate ratios (IRRs) were reported with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: The overall overuse injury rate was 5.3/10,000 AEs (95%CI=5.1, 5.7), the NTL overuse injury rate was 3.4/10,000 AEs (95%CI=3.1, 3.6), and the TL overuse injury rate was 2.0/10,000 AEs (95%CI=1.8, 2.2). The overuse injury rate was greater in girls' sports compared to boys' sports (IRR=1.9; 95%CI=1.7, 2.1). The highest rates of overuse injury were reported in girls' cross-country (19.2/10,000 AEs; 95%CI=15.0, 24.2), girls' track and field (16.0/10,000 AEs; 95%CI=13.5, 18.8), and girls' field hockey (15.1/10,000 AEs; 95%CI=10.2, 21.6). Overuse injury rates were highest for the lower extremity compared to the upper extremity (IRR=5.7; 95%CI=4.9, 6.7) and for the lower extremity compared to the trunk and spine (IRR=8.9; 95%CI=7.3, 10.8). Conclusions: Awareness of overuse injury risk as well as prevention and intervention recommendations are necessary and should be specifically targeted towards cross-country, field hockey, and track and field athletes.

Employing Google Trends to Assess Concussion Search Popularity, Seasonality, and Association With High School Sports Participation

ObjectiveThis investigation employs 2004–2020 Google Trends data to correlate concussion search popularity and high school sports participation while assessing search seasonality and factors associated with search escalation.BackgroundEvents linked to concussions, from news to entertainment, altered public perception of concussions and discouraged high-risk activities. Such sentiment likely promoted high school football's 2004–2018 8% decrease in participation, despite simultaneous 8% increase for sports overall. Google Trends (GT) analysis calculates distinct subjects' popularity scores (0–100) by normalizing Google search frequency with other subjects in the same topic. With 35% of patients researching their conditions using Google, tracking concussion popularity scores allows robust analysis of event-driven fluctuation, seasonal variation, and sports impact.Design/MethodsWorldwide GT analysis was conducted for the disease topic “Concussion” with the categorical filter “Health” from 2004 to 2020. This period's monthly popularity scores with annual averages and annual high school sports participation data were subsequently obtained from Google Trends and the National Federation of State High School Associations, respectively.ResultsConcurrence of significant score changes with CTE studies' publication, release of 2015 film Concussion, and the COVID-19 pandemic validates GT's measurement of public interest. From 2006 to 2016, Pearson's correlation coefficients demonstrated strong negative correlation between GT popularity scores for “Concussion” with total number of high school football participants overall (R2 = 0.8553) and participants per school (R2 = 0.9533). Confirming football-related seasonality, one-way ANOVA regression analysis concluded 2004–2020's mean change in month-specific popularity score is not the same (p = 3.193E-08), and months during football season had statistically significant variability (September: p = 4.389E-05) with elevated average z-scores.ConclusionsCoupled with ANOVA regression and normalized analyses, strong negative correlations between concussion popularity score and high school football participation produce quantitative measures of a long-suspected relationship. Tracking concussion popularity and seasonality with Google Trends provides insight into how, when, and why patients are educating themselves online.

Internet of Things and Edge Computing Model Optimization in Physical Training Status and Countermeasures in College Sports Basketball Optional Course

In recent years, people have paid special attention to their own health status and paid more and more attention to the cultivation of physical fitness. People of different ages have begun physical exercises. As a compulsory course in university, physical education has played a very positive role in the health of students. In order to promote the common development of basketball activities in many sports academies across the country and improve the educational quality of basketball majors, with a view to cultivating basketball and football talents in line with the culture and social development of the times, this article investigates and evaluates the basketball activities of sports coaches in many sports academies, discusses the pros and cons of high school sports in basketball and other related fields, and provides references and suggestions for improvement in the reform of basketball activities in some sports academies. The results of the study found that based on the Internet of Things and edge computing models, physical training in college sports basketball optional courses has been greatly improved compared with traditional physical training methods. Adding adaptive scheduling to Core 1, priority 1 and 5 was distributed on Core 2∼5. Priority 2 tasks tend to be more balanced.