Figure 3: Comparison of Linear Accelerations Difference between regular season and postseason impacts of women’s soccer Athletes Elizabeth R. Oden*, Debbie A. Bradney*, Katie M. Breedlove†, Thomas G. Bowman* *Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA; †University of Delaware, Newark, DE INTRODUCTION Awareness of head injuries and concussions has increased in the world of sports Little research that has been done to investigate the differences between impacts that occur in the regular season versus impacts that occur in the postseason RESULTS Data was collected throughout the entire 2014 season for 19 regular season games and 9 postseason games Participants were 5 times more likely (IRR=4.83, CI=3.23-7.23) to receive an impact in the regular season than the postseason In the regular season participants received almost 1 head impact per exposure (IR=945.95, CI=835.15-1056.75) In the postseason, for every 5 exposures, participants received approximately 1 head impact (IR=195.49, CI=120.35-270.63) Figure 4: Seasonal Comparison of Rotational Acceleration PURPOSE The purpose of the study was to compare the differences in frequency and magnitude of impacts during the regular and postseason for women’s soccer Figure 2: Total Exposures vs. Confirmed Impacts DISCUSSION We believe a higher prevalence of receiving a head impact in the regular season was due to a lower level of play Rotational accelerations were thought to be higher in the postseason due to increased athlete speed and power We think impacts were more prevalent in the regular season due to variation in levels of play throughout the season. Other studies comparing regular season to postseason also showed no significant difference when comparing the two seasons2 METHODS Participants: 17 NCAA DIII women’s soccer athletes (age=19.88±1.05 years, height=163.68±4.99 cm, mass=61.12±5.00 kg) participated in the study Instrumentation: xPatch (X2 Biosystems Inc., Seattle, Washington) sensor was worn for each practice and game (Figure 1). Procedures: xPatch was applied over the right mastoid process 30 minutes prior to practices and an hour before games We set a 10 g threshold for an impact to measure on the sensors All games and practices were filmed to confirm impacts recorded by sensors to collect data A standardized coding structure was used based off previous research1 Comparing linear and rotational acceleration, Mann-Whitney U tests showed a statistical difference between the regular and postseason rotational accelerations ( U=2710.00, P=0.003) Higher rotational accelerations were found in the postseason (422422.20±252332.76, Figure 4) The regular season had lower accelerations (317905.57±199716.41, Figure 4) No statistical difference was found for linear accelerations (U=2876.00, P=0.07, Figure 3) CONCLUSIONS Women’s soccer players are at a higher risk of experiencing a head impact in the regular season Helping athletes be more aware of the risks they can be at to receive a head impact to help prevention efforts REFERENCES Bussone WR. Linear and Angular Head Accelerations in Daily Life. [Master’s thesis]. Blacksburg, VA. The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Miller JR, Adamson GJ, Pink MM, Sweet JC. Comparison of Preseason, Midseason, and Postseason Neurocognitive Scores in Uninjured Collegiate Football Players. Am J Sport Med. 2007;35(8):1284-1288. Figure 1: xPatch sensor was used Figure 3: Comparison of Linear Accelerations ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the Percy Wootton Student-Faculty Research Award and the Schewel Research Fund for student-faculty collaborative research for funding this research project.