Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Australia.
National Trauma Research Institute, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Am J Sports Med. 2020 May;48(6):1485-1495. doi: 10.1177/0363546520912416. Epub 2020 Apr 7.
Exposure to head acceleration events (HAEs) has been associated with player sex, player position, and player experience in North American football, ice hockey, and lacrosse. Little is known of these factors in professional Australian football. Video analysis allows HAE verification and characterization of important determinants of injury.
To characterize verified HAEs in the nonhelmeted contact sport of professional Australian football and investigate the association of sex, player position, and player experience with HAE frequency and magnitude.
Descriptive epidemiology study.
Professional Australian football players wore a nonhelmeted accelerometer for 1 match, with data collected across 14 matches. HAEs with peak linear accelerations (PLAs) ≥30 were verified with match video. Verified HAEs were summarized by frequency and median PLA and compared between the sexes, player position, and player experience. Characterization of match-related situations of verified HAEs was conducted, and the head impact rate per skill execution was calculated.
92 male and 118 female players were recruited during the 2017 season. Male players sustained more HAEs (median, 1; IQR, 0-2) than female players (median, 0; IQR, 0-1; = .007) during a match. The maximum PLAs incurred during a match were significantly higher in male players (median, 61.8; IQR, 40.5-87.1) compared with female players (median, 44.5; IQR, 33.6-74.8; = .032). Neither player position nor experience was associated with HAE frequency. Of all verified HAEs, 52% (n = 110) occurred when neither team had possession of the football, and 46% (n = 98) were caused by contact from another player attempting to gain possession of the football. A subset of HAEs (n = 12; 5.7%) resulted in players seeking medical aid and/or being removed from the match (median PLA, 58.8; IQR, 34.0-89.0), with 2 (male) players diagnosed with concussion after direct head impacts and associated PLAs of 62 and 75, respectively. In the setting of catching (marking) the football, female players exhibited twice the head impact rate (16 per 100 marking contests) than male players (8 per 100 marking contests).
Playing situations in which players have limited control of the football are a common cause of impacts. Male players sustained a greater exposure to HAEs compared with female players. Female players, however, sustained higher exposure to HAEs than male players during certain skill executions, possibly reflecting differences in skill development. These findings can therefore inform match and skill development in the emerging professional women's competition of Australian football.
在北美足球、冰球和长曲棍球中，头部加速度事件（HAE）的暴露与球员性别、球员位置和球员经验有关。在澳大利亚职业足球中，人们对这些因素知之甚少。视频分析允许 HAE 验证，并对损伤的重要决定因素进行特征描述。
描述澳大利亚职业足球中非头盔接触运动中经证实的 HAE，并调查性别、球员位置和球员经验与 HAE 频率和幅度的关系。
描述性流行病学研究。
澳大利亚职业足球运动员在 1 场比赛中佩戴非头盔式加速度计，在 14 场比赛中收集数据。使用比赛视频对峰值线性加速度（PLA）≥30 的 HAE 进行验证。根据频率和中位数 PLA 对经证实的 HAE 进行总结，并比较男女、球员位置和球员经验之间的差异。对经证实的 HAE 的比赛相关情况进行特征描述，并计算每次技能执行的头部撞击率。
在 2017 赛季，招募了 92 名男性和 118 名女性运动员。与女性运动员（中位数，0；IQR，0-1； =.007）相比，男性运动员在一场比赛中遭受的 HAE 更多（中位数，1；IQR，0-2）。在一场比赛中，男性运动员遭受的最大 PLA 明显高于女性运动员（中位数，61.8；IQR，40.5-87.1），而女性运动员（中位数，44.5；IQR，33.6-74.8； =.032）。无论是球员位置还是经验，都与 HAE 频率无关。在所有经证实的 HAE 中，52%（n = 110）发生在两队均未控球的情况下，46%（n = 98）是由试图控球的另一名球员的接触造成的。一部分 HAE（n = 12；5.7%）导致球员寻求医疗援助和/或被逐出比赛（中位数 PLA，58.8；IQR，34.0-89.0），其中 2 名（男性）球员因直接头部撞击和相关 PLA 分别为 62 和 75 而被诊断为脑震荡。在接球（标记）球的情况下，女性球员的头部撞击率是男性球员的两倍（每 100 次标记比赛 16 次）。
在球员对足球的控制有限的情况下，发生的情况是撞击的常见原因。与女性运动员相比，男性运动员遭受的 HAE 暴露更大。然而，在某些技能执行过程中，女性运动员比男性运动员遭受更高的 HAE 暴露，这可能反映了技能发展的差异。这些发现可以为新兴的澳大利亚职业女子比赛中的比赛和技能发展提供信息。
