Head kinematics and physiological effects of repeated soccer heading

Huber, C. M.; Patton, D. A.; Rownd, K. R.; Master, C. L.; Arbogast, K. B.

Affiliations

¹University of Pennsylvania, Department of Bioengineering

²Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Center for Injury Research and Prevention

³Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Sports Medicine and Performance Center

⁴University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics

Abstract

Repeated soccer heading has caused immediate but transient decreases in neurocognitive performance, postural control, and ocular reflexes; however, previous studies focused on adults and lack high-quality head kinematic data. The current study quantified the head kinematics of adolescents during frontal and oblique soccer headers using an instrumented mouthguard and assessed changes in physiological function following a series of soccer headers compared to kicking control participants. Participants completed a suite of neurofunction assessments including the Post-Concussion Symptom Inventory (PCSI), visio-vestibular exam (VVE), and pupillary light reflex (PLR) at three timepoints: immediately prior to (pre), immediately after (0- hr post), and 16-72 hours after (24-hr post) completing 10 soccer headers or kicks. Data were collected for 19 participants (17 male) randomized into control (n=8), frontal heading (n=6), and oblique heading (n=5) groups. Frontal soccer headers resulted in higher mean peak linear acceleration (17.4±0.5 g) compared to oblique headers (12.1±0.4 g, p<0.001), and oblique headers resulted in higher peak angular velocity (frontal: 5.6±0.2 rad/s, oblique: 10.1±0.4 rad/s, p<0.001) and angular acceleration (frontal: 1147±45 rad/s², oblique: 1410±65 rad/s², <0.001). There were no differences between controls and heading participants pre-intervention in PCSI, VVE, or PLR (p>0.127) or change from baseline for either timepoint (p>0.071). However, compared to pre-intervention, control participants had fewer total errors + sway in VVE tandem gait at 0-hr post (pre: 1.0±0.4, 0-hr: 0.3±0.2, p=0.020), and one of nine PLR metrics (peak dilation velocity) decreased for heading participants one day after heading (pre: 2.1±0.1 mm/s; 24-hr post: 1.9±0.1 mm/s, p=0.001). Overall, there was no effect of soccer heading on subjective symptoms and semi-objective VVE, and a single objective PLR metric changed in heading participants. Therefore, based on these results, repeated headers did not leave a clear signature on acute brain function.

Links

URL: https://ibrc.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-Huber.pdf

Cited Works (3)

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