National Athletic Trainers' Association Bridge Statement: Management of Sport-Related Concussion

This bridge statement, published by NATA in the Journal of Athletic Training in 2024, updates parts of the 2014 NATA position statement on sport concussion for athletic trainers and team physicians. It is explicitly not a full new position statement: it revises some 2014 recommendations, adds new ones, and leaves the rest of the 2014 statement in place, with tables setting the old and new recommendations side by side.

It frames concussion care within a biopsychosocial model that takes social determinants of health into account. New and revised recommendations cover broader stakeholder education (including driving after concussion), the medical authority of licensed professionals in concussion decisions, newer assessment domains such as vestibulo-ocular and cervical examination, prognostic factors for slow recovery, and mental health screening and referral.

It also adds guidance on return to academics through a school-based concussion team and graduated academic supports. On activity, it moves away from strict rest toward a short period of relative rest followed by symptom-limited activity and supervised aerobic exercise as part of treatment, with an updated return-to-sport progression.

The bridge does not replace the 2014 statement. For any recommendation it leaves unchanged, including those on documentation, legal aspects and equipment, it directs clinicians back to the 2014 text, so NATA's current concussion guidance is the two documents read together.