Grace B Choi, Eric P Smith, Stefan M Duma, Steven Rowson, Eamon Campolettano, Mireille E Kelley, Derek A Jones, Joel D Stitzel, Jillian E Urban, Amaris Genemaras, Jonathan G Beckwith, Richard M Greenwald, Arthur Maerlender, Joseph J Crisco
The relationship between head impact and subsequent brain injury for American football players is not well-defined, especially for youth. The objective of this study is to quantify and assess Head Impact Exposure (HIE) metrics among youth and collegiate football players. This multi-season study enrolled 639 unique athletes (354 collegiate; 285 youth, ages 9-14), recording 476,209 head impacts (367,337 collegiate; 108,872 youth) over 971 sessions (480 collegiate; 491 youth). Youth players experienced 43 and 65% fewer impacts per competition and practice, respectively, and lower impact magnitudes compared to collegiate players (95th percentile peak linear acceleration (PLA, g) competition: 45...
May 4, 2022: Annals of Biomedical Engineering