Behavioral Tackling Interventions Decrease Head Impact Frequency in American Football Players: A Critically Appraised Topic

Abstract

Context: The rate of sport-related concussion diagnosis has significantly increased in recent years, which has created a need for injury prevention initiatives. There have been efforts put forth by researchers and American football organizations to teach athletes how to tackle properly in order to decrease the number of subconcussive head impacts and concussions. Clinical Question: Does the implementation of a behavioral tackling intervention decrease the head impact frequency in American football players? Clinical Bottom Line: There is moderate SORT Level B evidence to support the use of behavioral tackling interventions as a means for reducing head impact frequency in football athletes. All four included studies found a significant reduction in head impacts following a behavioral tackling intervention with study findings ranging from a 26–33% reduction in impact frequency. These findings were consistent in youth, high school, and college football players and for different types of behavioral tackling interventions. Therefore, these results indicate that behavioral tackling interventions have the potential to reduce the number of head impacts sustained by American football players, which may ultimately lead to a reduction in concussion occurrence as well.