Concussive head impact biomechanics in NCAA DIII women\u27s lacrosse and soccer athletes

Context: The majority of head impact research has been completed on male athletes. Despite this fact, there is limited research on the biomechanics of concussive impacts in women’s lacrosse and soccer. Objective: To investigate the biomechanics of concussive head impacts in women’s lacrosse and soccer athletes. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Setting: Collegiate athletic fields. Participants: 4 NCAA DIII women’s soccer and lacrosse athletes (age=19.20±1.10 years, height=64.00±1.58 cm, weight= 59.09±2.55 kg). Interventions: Participants of a larger study wore xPatch sensors during games and practices. Main Outcome Measures: Linear acceleration (LA) in g and rotational acceleration (RA) in deg/s2. Results: There were four total concussions during the two seasons, two in soccer (Fall 2014 and 2015) and two in lacrosse (Spring 2016). Two of the concussive impacts occurred during games and two occurred during practices. The average LA for the concussive impacts was 24.386±29.42 g and the average RA was 368,269.750±225,318.56 deg/s². The range for LA was 15.78 g - 76.53 g and the range for RA was 154,308.00 deg/s2 - 686178.00 deg/s2. Conclusion: Our results indicate the average LA and RA which caused the concussions is much lower than those reported in the literature for professional football (LA of 61-144 g), collegiate football (LA of 61-169 g), and high school football (LA of 61-169 g). These results suggest concussions are heterogeneous from a mechanism standpoint, potentially due to differences in style of play and physiological differences between males and females. Keywords: xPatch, mild traumatic brain injury, linear acceleration, rotational acceleratio