Operational Definitions An Examination of Concussion Injury Rates in Various Models of Football Helmets in NCAA Athletes Ryan Moran MS, ATC Tracey Covassin PhD, ATC Michigan State University Department of Kinesiology Sport Concussion Laboratory Introduction Methods Results continued 2,107 NCAA football athletes from 7 Universities Mean age- 20 years old Mean height- 6’ 1” Mean weight- 225 lbs. 209 total concussion 1.6 and 3.8 million sport-related concussions occur each year in the United States1 Newer, advanced football helmets have been designed with the intentions of decreasing concussions Changes in tackling rules and helmet improvements reduced traumatic brain injuries in the 20th century2 Very little literature exists comparing the concussion rates between football helmet models Most research has focused on helmet impacts and high school athletes Used data collected and input into the Sports Injury Monitoring System (SIMS) between 2009-12 Recruitment letters sent to Certified Athletic Trainers (ATCs) using SIMS ATCs obtained helmet models from Equipment Managers Data collected included: height, weight, position, helmet model, season of concussion (if occurred) Operational Definitions Athlete exposure (AE): One athlete participating in at least one play of one game or practice, where the athlete is exposed to the possibility of sustaining an injury3 Injury Rate (IR): statistical measure describing the number of injuries that occur in a defined number of people IR formula:[# of Athletes] x [# of pracs. + games] = Athlete Exposure; [# concussions per helmet] / [Σ AE per helmet] x 10,000 = Calculated Injury Rate per 10,000 AE Concussions by Position Position # of Concussions Offensive Line 36 Linebacker 34 Wide Receiver 30 Defensive Backs 29 Defensive Line 26 Running Backs 25 Tight End 13 Quarterback 9 N/A 7 Objectives Discussion First recent study to measure injury rates amongst newer, advanced football helmets in collegiate football athletes No difference in injury rates for concussions between newer, advanced helmets Significant difference between newer, advanced helmets and older, traditional helmet At this point helmets have not been found to reduce concussions Strides are being made from equipment and clinical standpoints To examine concussion injury rates in various models of football helmets in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football players Research Questions Which football helmet model will have the highest concussion rate? Which football helmet model will have the lowest concussion rate? Will the newer, advanced helmet models be better at reducing the likelihood of concussions as compared to the older, traditional helmet model? Results References Langlois, JA, Rutland-Brown, W, Wald, MM. (2006). The epidemiology and impact of traumatic bran injury: a brief overview. Journal of Head Trauma and Rehabilitation, 21(5), 375-378. Levy, ML, Ozgur, BM, Berry, C, Aryan HE, Apuzzo, MJ (2004). Analysis and evolution of head injury in football. Neurosurgery, 55(3), 649-655. Dick, R, Agel, J, Marshall SW. (2007). National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance System commentaries: introduction and methods. Journal of Athletic Training, 42(2), 173-182. Chi Square statistic: 2.718; p-value: 0.743 All helmets: p < .001 via Poisson Regression comparing new models to traditional model