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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Injury Prevention and Control
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1430428
This article is part of the Research Topic Equity in Health: Placing Human Diversity at the Heart of Neuroscientific Research View all articles

The Prevalence of Black/African American Individuals in Concussion Literature: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Taia Maceachern Taia Maceachern 1*Ava John-Baptiste Ava John-Baptiste 2,3,4Anita D. Christie Anita D. Christie 1
  • 1 School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
  • 2 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
  • 3 Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
  • 4 Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Comprising approximately 13.6% of the United States population, Black/African American individuals are overrepresented in sports associated with a high risk of concussion. However, there has been a notable absence of systematic reviews examining whether concussion literature accurately reflects the participation and experiences of Black/African American individuals. Therefore, this study aims to systematically review the prevalence of Black/African American individuals compared to White individuals diagnosed with concussions in the literature. A systematic search was performed across four electronic databases: PubMed, MEDLINE (Ovid), Scopus and Web of Science. Articles were searched from inception to January 5, 2022. Prevalence data were extracted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A metaanalysis of proportions was conducted within hospital records and national survey data. Among 447 identified studies, 11 were included, representing 1,839,901 individuals diagnosed with a concussion, with 73.6% identifying as White and 12.5% identifying as Black/African American. The mean proportion of Black/African American diagnosed with a concussion in hospital records (13.9%; 95% CI [12.8, 15.1]) exceeded that in national surveys (6.4%; 95% CI [3.5, 11.3]) but lower than sportscentered studies (16%). These findings underscore the need to address racial disparities in healthcare within the broader context of social determinants of health and systemic inequities. By identifying gaps in the current research, this study lays the foundation for future investigation aimed at elucidating and addressing healthcare disparities.

    Keywords: concussion, health equity, Prevalence, disparities, Black/African American

    Received: 14 May 2024; Accepted: 31 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Maceachern, John-Baptiste and Christie. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Taia Maceachern, School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, N6A 5B9, Ontario, Canada

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