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Objectives: To assess whether padded headgear was associated with incidence of suspected sports-related concussion, non-sports-related concussion head injury, and injuries to other body regions in junior Australian football., Design: Prospective cohort injury surveillance., Methods: There were 400 junior players (42.5% female) enrolled across two seasons. Suspected sports-related concussion was defined by detection of observable signs on the field and medical assessment or missed match(es) due to suspected sports-related concussion. Non-sports-related concussion head injury and injuries to other body regions were defined as those that received medical assessment or resulted in a missed match., Results: There were 20 teams monitored over 258 matches. 204 players (2484 player hours) wore mandated headgear throughout the season and 196 (2246 player hours) did not. The incidence rate of suspected sports-related concussion was 3.17 (95% confidence interval: 3.04-3.30) per 1000 player-hours and no differences were observed between males and females (risk ratio 1.11; 95% confidence interval: 0.40-3.06). Headgear use was not associated with suspected sports-related concussion (risk ratio 1.09; 95% confidence interval: 0.41-2.97), non-sports-related concussion head injury (risk ratio 0.27; 95% confidence interval: 0.06-1.31), or injuries to other body regions (risk ratio 1.41; 95% confidence interval: 0.79-2.53)., Conclusions: Headgear use was not associated with reduced risk of suspected sports-related concussion, non-sports-related concussion head injury or injuries to other body regions. There was no difference in the rate of suspected sports-related concussion in female compared to male players, however, rates of non-sports-related concussion head injury and injuries to other body regions were higher in male players., (Copyright © 2021 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To assess the utility and functionality of the X-Patch ® as a measurement tool to study head impact exposure in Australian Football. Accuracy, precision, reliability and validity were examined., Designs: Laboratory tests and prospective observational study., Methods: Laboratory tests on X-Patch ® were undertaken using an instrumented Hybrid III head and neck and linear impactor. Differences between X-Patch ® and reference data were analysed. Australian Football players wore the X-Patch ® devices and games were video-recorded. Video recordings were analysed qualitatively for head impact events and these were correlated with X-Patch ® head acceleration events. Wearability of the X-Patch ® was assessed using the Comfort Rating Scale for Wearable Computers., Results: Laboratory head impacts, performed at multiple impact sites and velocities, identified significant correlations between headform-measured and device-measured kinematic parameters (p<0.05 for all). On average, the X-Patch ® -recorded peak linear acceleration (PLA) was 17% greater than the reference PLA, 28% less for peak rotational acceleration (PRA) and 101% greater for the Head Injury Criterion (HIC). For video analysis, 118 head acceleration events (HAE) were included with PLA ≥30g across 53 players. Video recordings of X-Patch ® -measured HAEs (PLA ≥30g) determined that 31.4% were direct head impacts, 9.3% were indirect impacts, 44.1% were unknown or unclear and 15.3% were neither direct nor indirect head impacts. The X-Patch ® system was deemed wearable by 95-100% of respondents., Conclusions: This study reinforces evidence that use of the current X-Patch ® devices should be limited to research only and in conjunction with video analysis., (Copyright © 2019 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)