Comparison of Head Impact Frequency and Magnitude in Collegiate Lacrosse Athletes between In-season and Postseason Contests
Access Type
Open Access
Entry Number
7
Start Date
4-5-2017 12:00 PM
End Date
4-5-2017 1:00 PM
Abstract
Context: Investigation of how the type and intensity of play changes throughout a lacrosse season could explain head impact magnitude and frequency differences, which could give insight on how to prepare for increased intensities of play to prevent possible head injuries. Objective: To examine the relationship between frequency and magnitude of head impacts in male collegiate lacrosse athletes during regular season and postseason contests. Participants: Twenty-nine male collegiate lacrosse players. Main Outcome Measures: Incidence rates (IR) and an incidence rate ratio (IRR) were calculated to measure the frequency of head impacts. Mann Whitney U tests were performed, due to violations of normalcy, to establish any correlation in the magnitude of the head impacts. Results: Participants experienced 482 impacts in 306 regular season game exposures (IR=1575.16, CI=1434.54-1715.79) and 206 impacts in 151 postseason game exposures (IR=1364.24, CI=1177.94-1550.54; IRR=1.15, CI=.98-1.36). Event type did not affect linear acceleration (U=46274.50, P=.16) or rotational acceleration (U=47679.00, P=.41). Conclusion: Considering event type, alone, should not serve as remarkable evidence to provide additional preventative interventions for collegiate male lacrosse athletes. Until further research is done, we speculate that an increase in skill level during postseason events may be responsible from the dynamic in game setting and ranking. Future studies should consider other psychological or biomechanical factors, such as impact mechanism, between regular and postseason games in an effort to focus preventative interventions. Keywords: X2 Biosystems, xPatch sensors, linear acceleration, rotational acceleration.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Thomas Bowman, Dr. Debbie Bradney
Comparison of Head Impact Frequency and Magnitude in Collegiate Lacrosse Athletes between In-season and Postseason Contests
Context: Investigation of how the type and intensity of play changes throughout a lacrosse season could explain head impact magnitude and frequency differences, which could give insight on how to prepare for increased intensities of play to prevent possible head injuries. Objective: To examine the relationship between frequency and magnitude of head impacts in male collegiate lacrosse athletes during regular season and postseason contests. Participants: Twenty-nine male collegiate lacrosse players. Main Outcome Measures: Incidence rates (IR) and an incidence rate ratio (IRR) were calculated to measure the frequency of head impacts. Mann Whitney U tests were performed, due to violations of normalcy, to establish any correlation in the magnitude of the head impacts. Results: Participants experienced 482 impacts in 306 regular season game exposures (IR=1575.16, CI=1434.54-1715.79) and 206 impacts in 151 postseason game exposures (IR=1364.24, CI=1177.94-1550.54; IRR=1.15, CI=.98-1.36). Event type did not affect linear acceleration (U=46274.50, P=.16) or rotational acceleration (U=47679.00, P=.41). Conclusion: Considering event type, alone, should not serve as remarkable evidence to provide additional preventative interventions for collegiate male lacrosse athletes. Until further research is done, we speculate that an increase in skill level during postseason events may be responsible from the dynamic in game setting and ranking. Future studies should consider other psychological or biomechanical factors, such as impact mechanism, between regular and postseason games in an effort to focus preventative interventions. Keywords: X2 Biosystems, xPatch sensors, linear acceleration, rotational acceleration.
Comments
I am still updating my full manuscript and poster, so when the final copy is done I will upload the files.