Recker Robyn, Myers Alison, Desai Nikhil, Caccese Jaclyn B, Boucher Laura, Onate James, Yang Jingzhen
Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, United States.
School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, United States.
Front Sports Act Living. 2024 Jun 4;6:1363007. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1363007. eCollection 2024.
Mandating headgear for field players in girls' lacrosse to reduce head injuries, including concussion, has been heavily debated. However, research regarding the need and effectiveness of mandated headgear use in girls' lacrosse is still developing. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to identify the need for and barriers to the development of mandated headgear use policies in girls' lacrosse in Ohio.
We conducted six virtual focus groups, three with concussion experts (clinicians and researchers) and three with girls' lacrosse stakeholders (high school players, parents, coaches, and officials). A focus group guide was developed to explore study participants' perceptions and opinions on concussion in girls' lacrosse, headgear use among players, and policies and policy development related to headgear use or a headgear mandate. We developed the codebook using an inductive and iterative approach based on focus group transcripts and used ATLAS.TI to code and analyze the transcript data.
Concussion experts and stakeholders understood the potential consequences of concussion but did not perceive concussion as a pervasive problem in girls' lacrosse. The prevention of head and facial injuries was regarded as a potential benefit of headgear use. However, stakeholders expressed that the myriad of arguments discussed opposing mandated headgear use including increased aggressive play and/or targeting, concerns over changes in the game, and cost strongly outweighed the benefits. Finally, both concussion experts and stakeholders identified multiple organizations, including USA Lacrosse, who could act as facilitators and/or barriers to developing, enacting, and implementing headgear policies.
Concussion experts and stakeholders identified possible reasons for headgear use related to injury prevention but also identified several important barriers to the development of a headgear mandate for girls' lacrosse in Ohio.
强制女子长曲棍球场上的球员佩戴头盔以减少包括脑震荡在内的头部损伤，这一举措一直备受争议。然而，关于在女子长曲棍球运动中强制使用头盔的必要性和有效性的研究仍在不断发展。因此，本定性研究旨在确定俄亥俄州女子长曲棍球运动中强制使用头盔政策制定的必要性和障碍。
我们进行了六个虚拟焦点小组讨论，其中三个小组由脑震荡专家（临床医生和研究人员）组成，另外三个小组由女子长曲棍球利益相关者（高中球员、家长、教练和官员）组成。制定了一份焦点小组指南，以探讨研究参与者对女子长曲棍球运动中脑震荡的看法和意见、球员使用头盔的情况以及与头盔使用或头盔强制规定相关的政策和政策制定。我们基于焦点小组记录采用归纳和迭代的方法制定了编码手册，并使用ATLAS.TI对记录数据进行编码和分析。
脑震荡专家和利益相关者了解脑震荡的潜在后果，但并不认为脑震荡是女子长曲棍球运动中普遍存在的问题。预防头部和面部损伤被视为使用头盔的潜在益处。然而，利益相关者表示，讨论的反对强制使用头盔的众多论点，包括增加攻击性比赛和/或针对性、对比赛变化的担忧以及成本，远远超过了益处。最后，脑震荡专家和利益相关者都确定了多个组织，包括美国长曲棍球协会，它们可能成为制定、颁布和实施头盔政策的促进者和/或障碍。
脑震荡专家和利益相关者确定了与预防损伤相关的头盔使用的可能原因，但也确定了俄亥俄州女子长曲棍球运动头盔强制规定制定的几个重要障碍。
