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Frequency and Magnitude of Game-Related Head Impacts in Male Contact Sports Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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Abstract

Background

Sensor devices have enabled estimations of head impact kinematics across contact sports.

Objectives

To quantitatively report the magnitude (linear and rotational acceleration) and frequency of game-related head impacts recorded in male contact sports athletes.

Methods

A systematic review was conducted in June 2017. Inclusion criteria were English-language in vivo studies published after 1990 with a study population of male athletes aged ≥ 16 years, in any sport, where athletes were instrumented with an accelerometer device for measuring head impacts. Study populations were not limited to players with a clinical diagnosis of concussion.

Results

Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria with 12 conducted on American Football athletes. Six of these studies were included for meta-analysis. At a threshold of 10g, amateur rugby players sustained the most impacts per player per game (mean = 77, SD = 42), followed by amateur Australian Football (mean = 29, SD = 37) and collegiate lacrosse athletes (mean = 11.5, SD = 3.6). At thresholds of greater than 14.4g, high school American Football athletes sustained between 19 (SD = 19.1) and 24.4 (SD = 22.4) impacts per player per game. Statistically significant heterogeneity was observed among the included studies, and meta-analysis of impact magnitude was limited.

Conclusions

The frequency of “head acceleration events” was quantified and demonstrated substantial variation in methodology and reporting of results. Future research with standardised reporting of head impacts and inclusion of non-helmeted sports is warranted to enable more robust comparisons across sports.

Prospero ID

CRD42017070065.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychological Sciences and Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Jack V. K. Nguyen & Catherine Willmott

  2. National Trauma Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    James H. Brennan & Biswadev Mitra

  3. Emergency and Trauma Centre, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    James H. Brennan & Biswadev Mitra

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Biswadev Mitra

  5. Monash-Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Catherine Willmott

  6. Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash Psychology Centre, Building 1, 270 Ferntree Gully Road, Notting Hill, VIC, 3168, Australia

    Catherine Willmott

Authors
  1. Jack V. K. Nguyen
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  4. Catherine Willmott
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Catherine Willmott.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Commonwealth of Australia (Grant APP1133923).

Conflict of Interest

Jack V. K. Nguyen, James H. Brennan, Biswadev Mitra and Catherine Willmott declare that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this review.

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Nguyen, J.V.K., Brennan, J.H., Mitra, B. et al. Frequency and Magnitude of Game-Related Head Impacts in Male Contact Sports Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med 49, 1575–1583 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01135-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01135-4

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