Horse-racing is one of the most popular spectator sports in Ireland and plays an inherent role in Irish culture and tradition. Concussions are a growing national health concern, particularly in contact sports. Due to the high-speed and high-risk nature of horse-racing, concussions often occur and lead to substantial short- and long-term health and socio-economic issues. However, there is extremely limited concussion research in a horse-racing context. Using already collected performance data from the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board (IHRB) and concussion clinical data from the UPMC Sports Surgery Clinic (SSC) over the last 14 years we aim to reduce concussion risk and improve how we deal with concussions clinically. This four-study project will firstly establish how common concussions are, how they present and how they impact jockeys’ ability to race and recover. Jockeys must regularly complete extremely detailed concussion assessments to establish their baseline non-concussed scores. However, this is extremely resource-intensive and expensive, so not all governing bodies internationally can afford this care. Thus, we will develop jockey-specific comparative data for those athletes. Our third study will develop a revolutionary early warning system to highlight increased concussion risk by developing personalised reference ranges for individual jockeys. Finally, to develop preventative programmes to reduce concussion risk, we will identify what increases concussion and persistent symptoms risk in Irish horse-racing. Research has found that females sustain more concussions, experience more frequent and severe symptoms and take longer to recover. However, fundamental differences in the gender/sex gap in funding, resources, and access to medical professionals in female sport may be impacting these findings. Horse-racing is one of the few sports globally where athletes compete equally regardless of sex at all levels up to elite which will allow us for the first time to truly examine concussion risk and experiences between sex.
