INTRODUCTION: Sport concussion represents the majority of brain injuries occurring in the United States with 1.6 to 3.8 million cases annually. Understanding the biomechanical properties of this injury will support the development of better diagnostics and preventative techniques. METHODS:: We monitored all football related head impacts in 78 high school athletes (mean age 16.7 years) from 2005 through 2008 in order to better understand the biomechanical characteristics of concussive impacts. RESULTS:: Using the Head Impact Telemetry System (HITS), a total of 54,247 impacts were recorded and 13 concussive episodes captured for analysis. A classification and regression tree (CART) analysis of impacts indicated that rotational acceleration (>5582.3 rad/s), linear acceleration (>96.1g), and impact location (front, top, back) yielded the highest predictive value of concussion. CONCLUSIONS:: These threshold values are nearly identical to those reported at the collegiate and professional level. If the HITS were implemented for medical use, sideline personnel can expect to diagnose one of every five athletes with a concussion when the impact exceeds these tolerance levels. Why all athletes did not sustain a concussion when the impacts generated variables in excess of our threshold criteria is not entirely clear, although individual differences between participants may play a role. A similar threshold to concussion in adolescent athletes compared to their collegiate and professional counterparts suggests an equal concussion risk at all levels of play. Keywords: American football;
Language: en
", language="en", issn="0195-9131", doi="10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181dd9156", url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181dd9156" }