March 25, 2006
Does Mixed Martial Arts Pose a Greater Risk of A Concussion than Boxing or Kickboxing?
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It does according to a well designed, “in-depth”, “scientific” analysis (I’m being sarcastic here) done by "Dr." George J Buse. Take a look at an excerpt of this from Reuters:
…the new study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggests that mixed martial arts actually poses a greater risk of concussion.In a review of 642 televised matches, Dr. George J. Buse of the Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico, found that 28 percent were stopped because a fighter suffered a head impact that left him disoriented or unresponsive.
That proportion is much higher than what's been documented in other combat sports, including boxing and kickboxing, according to Buse.
The study has its limits, however. Buse viewed videotapes of mixed martial arts matches televised between 1993 and 2003, and documented how each fight ended. Though head blows accounted for the highest proportion of match stoppages, it's not clear how severely injured each fighter was.
Still, Buse writes, it's likely that the signs these fighters displayed — altered consciousness, unsteady legs — were the result of a concussion…
…As mentioned, video analysis alone cannot determine the extent to which fighters were injured in any of these situations, Buse acknowledges. "However," he writes, "this study did identify salient medical issues, of which blunt head trauma may be most concerning." More studies, he concludes, should look into the long-term physical toll of the sport.
I have no idea how this go into the British Journal of Sports Medicine. I mean, aren’t scientific journals supposed to be peer reviewed to screen out any sort of junk?
Basically, the “doctor” (Witch Doctor probably) watched 642 fights, seen that 28 percent of them were stopped because of head impact, and ASSUMED that those fighters had a concussion!
Pretty lame reasoning if you ask me. I’m no doctor or scientist myself, but to figure out if these fighters really had a concussion or not, shouldn’t you dig up and examine some post-fight medical reports or something? Lazy.
It's sad, because I think those who are opposed to Mixed Martial Arts is going to use this “study” as an example of how this sport is supposedly more dangerous than boxing.
I’ve read that most scientific papers are probably wrong, and I bet the one done by this dude is one of ‘em.
Filed under MMA News, Rant by mmablogger
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Comments on Does Mixed Martial Arts Pose a Greater Risk of A Concussion than Boxing or Kickboxing? »
[...] Update: MMA Blogger weights in on the issue. [...]
I got to read the actual study from the Brit Sports Med Journal the other day and Buse admitted the limitations of his study, including that it's not "in-depth". He makes a point though that there's been little study of the medical risks of the sport and further study is needed (researchers need to check out fighters after matches to diagnose them, rather than view video tape).
In the study he did not diagnose concussion based on his video analysis, but commented that the max possible concussion rate COULD be as high as 28% of all matches.
I'm interested in the medical risks of MMA and think the study set some groundwork for more in-depth future studies. I first thought he was out to make MMA look bad, but in the discussion section of the article he's definitely not anti-MMA…I'd recommend reading it (though wouldn't pay $12 at the Brit Sports Med Journal website to read it). Buse was looking to find what the main medical concerns could be and how future studies should be tailored to focusing on those issues (like risk of long-term brain injury from repeated blows to head, joint injuries from repeated submissions, etc). His ultimate (no pun intended) goal seemed to be improving the safety of the sport, not banning it (like Reuters made it seem).