Harvard Study Reveals National Concussion Education Lacking

Although a recent study found that colleges often fail to provide adequate concussion education programs for their athletes, students and administrators at Harvard say that the College has adhered to detailed guidelines for treating and identifying concussions.

The study, conducted by Harvard researchers Christine Baugh ’10, Emily Kroshus, Daniel H. Daneshvar, Naji A. Filali, Michael J. Hiscox, and Leonard H. Glantz, found that although 92.7 percent of universities reported having a system for head injury management, only 76.1 percent of those institutions taught their athletes how to identify concussions.

According to National Collegiate Athletic Association guidelines, schools are required to conduct “an annual process that ensures student-athletes are educated about the signs and symptoms of concussions.”

The researchers also revealed that member institutions were not required to inform the NCAA that they had a concussion management plan, leaving it up to member schools to self-report if they choose to.

Chris J. Nowinski ’00, a former Crimson football player and executive director of the Sports Legacy Institute, a nonprofit seeking to further awareness about concussions, agreed that colleges are still lacking in terms of educating athletes before the injuries occur.

“It’s clear that educating athletes is not a high priority,” Nowinski said.

A professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment until he suffered a traumatic blow to the head that ended his wrestling career, Nowinski helped the Ivy League construct its new concussion policies over the past few years. Their provisions have historically been stricter than those of the NCAA, such as contact practice restrictions that go beyond the baseline NCAA mandate.

However, even with the proper education given to Crimson athletes about identifying head injury symptoms, accurate self-diagnosis is not guaranteed.

Harvard football players Jacob Mayes ’18 and Mark N. Goldman ’18 experienced their first concussions early this semester. However, they said they did not immediately realized that they had sustained a concussion until they were approached by a trainer.

After Harvard's medical staff gave the correct diagnosis, both were kept from participating on the field. According to Goldman, he was not allowed to do contact drills until cleared by the sports medicine team even after being asymptomatic for a week.

“[After the injury] my trainer would not let me even go down to the field, for [about] a week and a half,” Goldman said.

According to Crimson football coach Tim Murphy, Harvard's policy is to defer decisions to sports medicine staff when it comes to medical issues, including concussions.

“We’ve got a tremendous sports medicine staff,” Murphy said. “They really care about the kids, and their decisions are going to be what’s best for the student-athletes.”

According to Lindsey Baker, the communications officer for Harvard University Health Services, Harvard also has a support system in place that goes beyond the comprehensive medical services the university provides.

“The student's resident/freshman dean and the Accessible Education Office are also notified, in case the student needs academic support, which is consistent with the NCAA’s best practices,” Baker said.

The new policies, along with the formation of a comprehensive student support system, led to a major shift in concussion management at Harvard.  Due to the negative stigma surrounding concussions, Murphy said, athletes often failed to report their suspicions of suffering from head injuries.

“Now you encourage kids to [report their symptoms], even if it turns out not to be anything remotely like a concussion,” Murphy said. “You want to make sure you’re on the conservative side.”

—Staff writer Caleb Y. Lee can be reached at caleb.lee@thecrimson.com.