Citation

Brainard LL, Beckwith JG, Chu JJ, Crisco JJ, McAllister TW, Duhaime AC, Maerlender AC, Greenwald RM. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2012; 44(2): 297-304.

Affiliation

1Simbex, Lebanon, NH, USA 2Bioengineering Laboratory, Department of Orthopedics, Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA 3Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH, USA 4Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA 5Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1249/MSS.0b013e31822b0ab4

PMID

21716150

Abstract

PURPOSE:: This study aims to quantify the frequency, magnitude, and location of head impacts sustained by male and female collegiate ice hockey players over two seasons of play. METHODS:: Over two seasons, 88 collegiate athletes (51 female, 37 male) on two female and male NCAA varsity ice hockey teams wore instrumented helmets. Each helmet was equipped with 6 single-axis accelerometers and a miniature data acquisition system to capture and record head impacts sustained during play. Data collected from the helmets were post-processed to compute linear and rotational acceleration of the head as well as impact location. The head impact exposure data (frequency, location, and magnitude) were then compared across gender. RESULTS:: Female hockey players experienced a significantly lower (p < 0.001) number of impacts per athlete exposure than males (female: 1.7 ± 0.7; male: 2.9 ± 1.2). The frequency of impacts by location was the same between gender (p > 0.278) for all locations except the right side of the head, where males received fewer impacts than females (p = 0.031). Female hockey players were 1.1 times more likely than males to sustain an impact less than 50 g while males were 1.3 times more likely to sustain an impact greater than 100 g. Similarly, males were 1.9 times more likely to sustain an impact with peak rotational acceleration greater than 5,000 rad/s and 3.5 times more likely to sustain an impact greater than 10,000 rad/s. CONCLUSIONS:: Although the incidence of concussion has typically been higher for female hockey players than male hockey players, female players sustain fewer impacts and impacts resulting in lower head acceleration than males. Further study is required to better understand the intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors that lead to higher rates of concussion for females that have been previously reported.

Language: en