Altered inter-segmental coordination in athletes with a history of concussion

Concussion-recovered athletes have a higher risk of injury following return to sport. This study investigated the effect of history of concussion on the pattern and variability of inter-segmental coordination in athletes during squat jumps and timed squat and hinge tasks. A human pose estimation algorithm was applied to videos of 111 athletes (72 with no history of concussion (NOHX), 9 within 1 year of concussion (CONC1), 30 more than one-year post-concussion (CONC2) performing a series of movement tasks. Continuous relative phase metrics, calculated from phase angles of two contiguous segments, were used to evaluate inter-segmental coordination. Linear models were used to evaluate the causal effect of concussion group on hip, knee, and ankle coordination and repetition duration for each task. CONC1 affected repetition duration and knee and hip coordination and variability, while CONC2 influenced knee coordination. The findings suggest that concussion may have long-term persisting effects on lower-limb inter-segmental coordination in athletes.