Citation

Sinnott AM, Chandler MC, Van Dyke C, Mincberg DL, Pinapaka H, Lauck BJ, Mihalik JP. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023; 20(21): e6991.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph20216991

PMID

37947549

Abstract

Sport-related concussion prevention strategies in collision sports are a primary interest for sporting organizations and policy makers. After-market soft-shell padding purports to augment the protective capabilities of standard football helmets and to reduce head impact severity. We compared head impact kinematics [peak linear acceleration (PLA) and peak rotational acceleration (PRA)] in athletes wearing Guardian Cap soft-shell padding to teammates without soft-shell padding. Ten Division I college football players were enrolled [soft-shell padding (SHELL) included four defensive linemen and one tight end; non-soft-shell (CONTROL) included two offensive linemen, two defensive linemen, and one tight end]. Participants wore helmets equipped with the Head Impact Telemetry System to quantify PLA (g) and PRA (rad/s(2)) during 14 practices. Two-way ANOVAs were conducted to compare log-transformed PLA and PRA between groups across helmet location and gameplay characteristics. In total, 968 video-confirmed head impacts between SHELL (n = 421) and CONTROL (n = 547) were analyzed. We observed a Group x Stance interaction for PRA (F(1,963) = 7.21; p = 0.007) indicating greater PRA by SHELL during 2-point stance and lower PRA during 3- or 4-point stances compared to CONTROL. There were no between-group main effects. Protective soft-shell padding did not reduce head impact kinematic outcomes among college football athletes.

Language: en

Keywords

injury prevention; concussion; brain injury; equipment add-on; intervention strategies; repetitive head impact exposure