Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Injury Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Premier Federal Inc, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Am J Sports Med. 2021 Jul;49(8):2218-2226. doi: 10.1177/03635465211011754. Epub 2021 May 17.
Interventions designed to reduce the risk for head impacts and concussion in youth football have increased over the past decade; however, understanding of the role of regular game play on head impact exposure among youth tackle and flag football athletes is currently limited.
To explore head impact exposure among youth tackle and flag football athletes (age range, 6-14 years) during both practices and games.
Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.
Using the Vector MouthGuard sensor, the authors collected head impact data from 524 tackle and flag youth football athletes over the course of a football season. Quantities of interest were estimated from regression models using Bayesian methods.
For impacts ≥10, a tackle football athlete had an estimated 17.55 (95% CI, 10.78-28.96) times more head impacts per practice compared with a flag football athlete (6.85 [95% CI, 6.05-7.76] and 0.39 [95% CI, 0.24-0.62] head impacts, respectively). Additionally, a tackle football athlete had an estimated 19.48 (95% CI, 12.74-29.98) times more head impacts per game compared with a flag football athlete (13.59 [95% CI, 11.97-15.41] and 0.70 [95% CI, 0.46-1.05] head impacts, respectively). Among tackle football athletes, the estimated average impact rate was 6.51 (95% CI, 5.75-7.37) head impacts during a practice and 12.97 (95% CI, 11.36-14.73) impacts during a game, resulting in 2.00 (95% CI, 1.74-2.29) times more ≥10 head impacts in games versus practices. Tackle football athletes had 2.06 (95% CI, 1.80-2.34) times more high-magnitude head impacts (≥40) during a game than during a practice. On average, flag football athletes experienced an estimated 0.37 (95% CI, 0.20-0.60) head impacts during a practice and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.53-1.06) impacts during a game, resulting in 2.06 (95% CI, 1.29-3.58) times more ≥10 head impacts in games versus practices. Because of model instability caused by a large number of zero impacts for flag football athletes, a comparison of high-magnitude head impacts is not reported for practices or games.
This study provides a characterization of the head impact exposure of practices and games among a large population of youth tackle and flag football athletes aged 6 to 14 years. These findings suggest that a greater focus on game-based interventions, such as fair play interventions and strict officiating, may be beneficial to reduce head impact exposures for youth football athletes.
在过去十年中，旨在降低青少年足球头部撞击和脑震荡风险的干预措施有所增加；然而，目前对于青少年触身式和腰旗橄榄球运动员在常规比赛中头部撞击暴露的作用了解有限。
探讨青少年触身式和腰旗橄榄球运动员（年龄 6-14 岁）在练习和比赛中的头部撞击暴露情况。
队列研究；证据水平，2 级。
使用 Vector MouthGuard 传感器，作者从 524 名触身式和腰旗青少年足球运动员在整个足球赛季中收集了头部撞击数据。使用贝叶斯方法回归模型估计感兴趣的数量。
对于≥10 的撞击，触身式橄榄球运动员在一次练习中头部撞击的估计次数比腰旗橄榄球运动员多 17.55 倍（95%CI，10.78-28.96）（分别为 6.85 [95%CI，6.05-7.76]和 0.39 [95%CI，0.24-0.62]）。此外，触身式橄榄球运动员在一场比赛中头部撞击的估计次数比腰旗橄榄球运动员多 19.48 倍（95%CI，12.74-29.98）（分别为 13.59 [95%CI，11.97-15.41]和 0.70 [95%CI，0.46-1.05]）。在触身式橄榄球运动员中，练习期间的估计平均撞击率为 6.51 次（95%CI，5.75-7.37），比赛期间为 12.97 次（95%CI，11.36-14.73），导致比赛中的≥10 次撞击是练习中的 2.00 倍（95%CI，1.74-2.29）。触身式橄榄球运动员在比赛中比在练习中经历的高幅度撞击（≥40）多 2.06 倍（95%CI，1.80-2.34）。平均而言，腰旗橄榄球运动员在练习中估计经历 0.37 次（95%CI，0.20-0.60）撞击，在比赛中经历 0.77 次（95%CI，0.53-1.06）撞击，导致比赛中的≥10 次撞击是练习中的 2.06 倍（95%CI，1.29-3.58）。由于腰旗橄榄球运动员的大量零撞击导致模型不稳定，因此未报告练习或比赛中高幅度撞击的比较。
本研究提供了一个大规模的 6 至 14 岁青少年触身式和腰旗橄榄球运动员的练习和比赛中头部撞击暴露情况的特征描述。这些发现表明，更加关注基于比赛的干预措施，例如公平比赛干预措施和严格的裁判，可能有助于降低青少年足球运动员的头部撞击暴露。
