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Latest Research
Research Details
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| Research Title: |
Preventing head and neck injury |
| Type of Research: |
Publication Articles |
| Category: |
Preventative Techniques
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| Keywords: |
Football
Head Injury
Headgear
Helmet
Neck, rugby, baseball, soccer, cricket
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| Author(s): |
A S McIntosh, P McCrory |
| Author(s) Bio Box: |
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| Release Date: |
27 March 2006 |
| Research Summary/Text: |
Sports involving body contact, projectiles, and/or high speeds are associated with a risk of head and neck injury. This review looks at the effectiveness of methods to prevent head and neck injury including catastrophic injury. Injury prevention methods are categorised, with examples from the literature to demonstrate each one’s effectiveness. A profile of head and neck injury risks in selected sports is provided and includes: rugby, ice hockey, American football, baseball, youth soccer; boxing; cricket; professional horse racing; skiing and snowboarding.
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| Research Objectives: |
The paper reviews the effectiveness of methods to prevent head and neck injury.
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| Research Outcomes: |
Successful methods of injury prevention must either be able to minimise the energy involved in impacts and collisions or reduce the forces applied to the body to levels that can be tolerated without injury.
Approaches that are considered or have been proven to be successful in reducing injury can be described in the broad headings of (i) elimination, substitution and engineering (environmental factors); (ii) training; (iii) administrative controls – laws and rules; and (iv) personal protective equipment. Specific examples are: modification of the baseball; implementation of helmet standards in ice hockey and American football; increased wearing rates of helmets; use of full faceguards in ice hockey; changes of rules associated with body contact; and implementation of rules to reduce the impact forces in rugby scrums.
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| Research Implications: |
Helmets and other devices have been shown to reduce the risk of severe head and facial injury, but current designs appear to make little difference to rates of concussion. Overconfidence while tackling by rugby players who are wearing head gear may be a concern.
Neck injury has been addressed through laws and skill development, with little formal evaluation.
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