Secular trends in emergency department encounters for concussion at US children's hospitals by age group (2008–2017)

Abstract

ObjectiveTo compare head kinematics measurements obtained from 6 different head impact sensors utilizing different methods of sensor-to-head fixation. DesignFree-drop impacts (total n = 54) were performed at 3.5 and 5.5 m/s onto to the front, back, side, and top of 2 elderly human cadaveric head-neck specimens: a helmeted (Riddell Revolution Speed) male specimen was dropped onto a NOCSAE testing pad; an un-helmeted female specimen was dropped onto a framed sample of field turf. The specimens were instrumented with an intracranial reference sensor surgically mounted at the approximate head center-of-mass by a rigidly-fixed custom standoff pad, an intra-oral test sensor rigidly fixed to the upper teeth/hard palate by a custom orthodontic appliance, and 4 commercially available head impact sensing systems: X-Patch, Vector mouth guard, HITS (helmeted condition only), and G-Force Tracker (affixed to helmet interior or head band depending on helmet status). Peak linear and rotational head accelerations (PLA and PRA) were compared between each sensor and the intracranial reference sensor using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC [2, 1]). ResultsAgreement with reference PLA and PRA values differed between sensors, with the greatest agreement observed for the rigidly affixed intraoral sensor (ICC = 0.921, PLA; ICC = 0.810, PRA). Agreement for PLA and PRA, respectively, was: for X-Patch, ICC = 0.638, ICC = 0.155; for Vector mouth guard, ICC = 0.775, ICC = 0.480; for HITS, ICC = 0.662 (PLA only); for G-Force Tracker, ICC = 0.364 (PLA only).