1. Comparing Men’s Soccer Head Impact Characteristics Over a Three Year Time Period
Karlie Ennis

2. Introduction
Heading a soccer ball includes linear acceleration as well as rotational acceleration of the skull
Injury rates for soccer are near the top for sports
US soccer organization regulations on heading the soccer ball
Understanding head impact characteristics may provide insight for preventative measures

3. Purpose
To compare head impact characteristics in men’s soccer over 3 years based on location on the head and the mechanism of the impact

4. Methods 26 NCAA Division III male soccer players
Independent variable: head impact location and mechanism
Dependent variable: magnitude and frequency of head impacts
xPatch sensors measured linear and rotational acceleration
10 g threshold
Video confirmation

5. Results
The interaction between mechanism and location was significant for linear accelerations ( F9,1128=1.97, p=.040, η2=.02)
post hoc test results

6. Results
The interaction between mechanism and location was significant for rotational accelerations (F9,1128=2.95, p<.01, η2 =.02)
post hoc test results

7. Results
The most common head impact mechanism was ball to head (IR=441.86, CI95= )

8. Results
The most common location on the head was to the side of the head (IR=478.62, CI95= ) 

9. Discussion Head to ball most frequent head impact
Main brain structures on the side of the head are the parietal lobe and temporal lobe
Coaches’ awareness

10. Discussion Limitation to this study Limited generalizability
Future Research
Compare games versus practices
Compare results to other levels

11. Conclusion
Incident Rate comparison
Head impact prevention efforts