Head Impact Exposure During a Weekend Youth Soccer Tournament

Abstract

Concussion is a known risk in youth soccer, but little is known about subconcussive head impacts. The authors provided a prospective cohort study measuring frequency and magnitude of subconcussive head impacts using accelerometry in a middle school-age soccer tournament, and association between head impacts and changes in (1) symptoms, (2) cognitive testing, and (3) advanced neuroimaging. A total of 17 youth completed the study (41% female, mean 12.6 years). There were 73 head impacts >15g measured (45% headers) and only 2 had a maximum peak linear acceleration >50g No youth reported symptoms consistent with concussion. After correction for multiple comparisons and a sensitivity analysis excluding clear outliers, no significant associations were found between head impact exposure and neuropsychological testing or advanced neuroimaging. The authors conclude that head impacts were relatively uncommon and low in acceleration in youth playing a weekend soccer tournament. This study adds to the limited data regarding head impacts in youth soccer.

Head-Impact–Measurement Devices: A Systematic Review

“…The X2 X-Patch has been used in collegiate, high school, and youth soccer to evaluate head impacts. [93][94][95] For high school and collegiate athletes, all soccer-related head impacts averaged 37.6g resultant LA and 7523 rad/s 2 resultant AA. 47 Collegiate female soccer players sustained an average of 4.6 impacts per session (almost 7 per game and 3.5 during practice) 94 and resultant AA averages ranged 93,94 from 5626 to 7713 rad/s 2 .…”

“…94 At the youth level, male and female soccer players experienced a median linear impact magnitude of 18.3g. 95 Rugby. Authors of the 2 studies that evaluated head impacts in rugby used the X-Guard 96 or X2 X-Patch.…”

“…Most research has involved male athletes, predominantly in football (n ¼ 40),* ice hockey (n ¼ 12), 16,[42][43][44][45]61,62,[76][77][78][79][80] soccer (n ¼ 4), 87,[93][94][95] and boxing (n ¼ 1). 89 Males sustained more impacts in ice hockey and boxing than females did.…”

“…8 Biomechanical data have effectively improved player safety via protective equipment and rule changes. 26,86,92,95,[110][111][112] For example, the STAR helmet rating was initiated in 2011 at Virginia Tech to identify which helmets have a theoretical reduced concussion risk. 113 Combining laboratory and field data, the injury-risk function estimates the concussion risk for an individual player for 1 season.…”

Head impact exposure comparison between male and female amateur rugby league participants measured with an instrumented patch

“…To better understand concussive injuries, head impact biomechanics have been extensively studied in a variety of sporting environments such as American football [11][12][13][14], soccer [15,16], ice hockey [17,18], lacrosse [19], Australian rules football [20], rugby union [21] and rugby league [22][23][24]. The studies reporting on head impact biomechanics in rugby league have been undertaken at junior [22], senior amateur male [23] and senior amateur female [24], levels of participation.…”