The Implementation of a Return-to-Play Protocol with Standardized Physical Therapy Referrals in a Collegiate Football Program: PT's Role in Return-to-Play, A Clinical Commentary.
Andrew Teare-Ketter, Jeffrey Ebert, Hunter Todd
PMID 37020444WHAT IT FOUND
Thirteen football players at high risk for slow concussion recovery were referred to physical therapy within days of injury.
They returned to play in a median of 15.5 days, which is comparable to larger groups who did not receive this specific early referral.
Key findings
01The pilot cohort consisted of 13 athletes identified as at risk for prolonged recovery who were referred to skilled physical therapy.
02The median time to return to play for this group was 15.5 days, and the mean was 17 days.
03No athletes in the cohort reported symptom exacerbation after being cleared for return to play or full academic participation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is a pilot with a very small sample size of 13 athletes. There was no control group or pre-implementation baseline data, so it is impossible to determine if the outcomes were better than usual care. The authors explicitly state they hesitate to make major interpretations from the data due to the small cohort. Three athletes were excluded from the return-to-play data because they stopped playing or transferred, and one subsequent concussion was excluded from the analysis, which may affect the reported rates. The outcomes are descriptive and not statistically compared to other groups.
Declared interests
The authors disclose no conflicts of interest. The study was approved by the Mercer University Institutional Review Board. The clinical staff involved were contracted from a local hospital system and were not university employees.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this specific physical therapy protocol reduces time to return to play compared to standard care. The study had no control group and only 13 participants, so the reported median of 15.5 days is a descriptive statistic of what happened to these athletes, not evidence of efficacy over other methods.