Does Headgear Forestall Sport-Associated Concussion? A Systematic Overview and Meta-Evaluation of Randomized Managed Trials Together with 6311 Gamers and 173,383 Publicity Hours.
Al Attar WSA, Mahmoud H, Alfadel A, Faude O. Sports activities Well being. 2023 Might 19:19417381231174461. doi: 10.1177/19417381231174461. Epub forward of print. PMID: 37204092.
Full Textual content Not Freely Obtainable
Take-Dwelling Message
Headgear worn by younger soccer or rugby gamers fails to lower the incidence of sport-related concussions.
Background
Protecting headgear reduces the chance of facial and enamel accidents; nevertheless, there’s inconsistent analysis to assist the speed at which they stop sport-related concussions.
Research Aim
On this systematic evaluation, the authors recognized and summarized findings from 3 randomized management trials that evaluated whether or not headgear successfully lowers the incidence of sport-related concussions.
Strategies
The authors systematically searched 5 databases to determine randomized management trials that evaluated the extent to which headgear prevented sport-related concussion. The entire management teams didn’t put on headgear. The authors recorded publicity hours and the variety of gamers to calculate the damage price and documented compliance.
Outcomes
The three trials had “medium” to “good” methodological high quality on the PEDro scale. The first end result assessed in every trial was the variety of sport-related concussions per group (headgear vs. no headgear/management). The pooled outcomes included 6,311 gamers and 173,383 publicity hours. The authors discovered that headgear failed to forestall concussions in soccer or rugby. Compliance was variable between the research (99.6%, 46%, and unmeasured in 1 examine).
Viewpoints
The authors of this systematic evaluation concluded that the chance of struggling a sport-related concussion in both the headgear or non-headgear group was virtually equivalent. It needs to be famous that the trials for rugby solely included younger males. Whereas the soccer trials included females, the examine centered on 14 to 16 12 months olds. Therefore, it’s unclear how headgear performs amongst older athletes and feminine rugby gamers. The authors additionally discovered that compliance was fairly variable. One soccer examine had excessive compliance, whereas one rugby examine had low compliance. It will be useful to know if variations in compliance have been associated to totally different methods to advertise compliance, variations in sports activities, or private preferences for headgear kinds. Understanding what labored in soccer however not in rugby might assist determine methods to advertise good compliance.
Medical Implications
Medical professionals mustn’t promote carrying headgear for soccer and rugby athletes to forestall concussions. As an alternative, medical professionals ought to promote concussion training in what can stop concussion, akin to correct type (e.g., holding head up whereas dribbling/being conscious of surrounding) and correct tackling method in rugby (e.g., not utilizing their head).
Questions for Dialogue
Do you encourage headgear in sports activities akin to soccer and rugby? Does this systematic evaluation change your stance? Why or why not?
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Written by Jane McDevitt
Reviewed by Jeffrey Driban
