Head Acceleration Magnitude in Sport-Related Concussive Impacts: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics of sport-related injuries
• Sports medicine and injury prevention

Background:

• Sport-related concussion (SRC) is a prevalent injury in athletes.
• Linear head acceleration (LHA) and rotational head acceleration (RHA) are critical factors in SRC.
• Evaluating head impact magnitudes is vital for SRC risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze LHA and RHA magnitudes in SRC impacts across diverse team sports, age groups, and sexes.
• To compare head acceleration metrics between concussive and non-concussive impacts in athletes.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of 30 studies involving 3262 athletes.
• Data extraction on study characteristics, instrumentation, and head impact magnitudes.
• Meta-analyses compared SRC vs. non-concussive impacts, with subgroup analyses by sport, age, sex, and instrumentation.

Main Results:

• SRC impacts showed significantly higher LHA (69.6 g vs 25.3 g) and RHA (4931 rad/s² vs 1966 rad/s²) than non-concussive impacts.
• Significant variations in LHA/RHA were found across sports, age groups, sexes, and instrumentation.
• American Football and rugby showed highest LHA and RHA, respectively; male athletes and high schoolers had higher LHA.

Conclusions:

• SRC impacts are characterized by substantially elevated LHA and RHA compared to non-concussive events in team sports.
• Variability in head acceleration magnitudes underscores the need for context-specific risk assessment.
• Findings provide a basis for enhanced head impact monitoring and SRC prevention strategies.