Theo Farley, Physiotherapist Clinical Teaching fellow at the Institute of Sport Exercise and Health (ISEH), conducted and led research that investigated whether neck strength is significantly associated with concussion incidence in professional male rugby players.
This study involved screening 225 rugby players for neck strength at three equally spaced time points throughout the 2018/19 season. By monitoring a players’ playing time, this enabled researchers to establish whether a correlation between neck strength and concussion existed.
The findings revealed that poor neck extension strength is positively correlated with concussion incidence when accounting for exposure. Further analysis reveals that a 10% increase for neck extension strength is associated with a 13% decrease in concussion rate.