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The Effects of Subconcussive Impacts on Heart Rate Variability In Female Youth Soccer Players
Author(s) -
Bonn Marquise,
Harriss Alexandra,
Dickey James P.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.731.4
Subject(s) - heart rate variability , header , medicine , heart rate , concussion , physical therapy , poison control , medical emergency , injury prevention , statistics , mathematics , blood pressure
Background ANS function can be measured noninvasively and relatively inexpensively through heart rate variability (HRV). Reduced HRV is representative of an uncoupling between the ANS and cardiovascular system, which may be proportional to the severity of a neurological injury. Reduced HRV has been observed in patients diagnosed with a sport‐related concussion, and therefore may be a useful outcome measure in identifying the chronic effects of heading during a youth soccer season. Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of one season of competitive soccer, with the inherent subconcussive header impacts, on autonomic function in female youth soccer players. Participants Twenty‐three female youth soccer players (13.4 ± 0.84 years old) were recruited from three competitive soccer teams. Methods The number of headers performed during the season were quantified using game video analysis. Players that performed fewer than the average number of headers (20) at the end of the season were classified into the “low header” group ( N =13), while players with 20 or more headers at the end of the season were classified into the “high header” group ( N =10). A five‐minute resting electrocardiogram data was collected from all players at baseline and post‐season. These data were analyzed using a two‐way mixed ANOVA in order to calculate heart rate variability time‐domain and frequency‐domain measures, which included mean heart rate, standard deviation of the N‐N interval, total power, low frequency, high frequency, and low to high frequency ratio (LF/HF). Results There was a statistically significant interaction between time and group for LF/HF from preseason (6.24 ± 5.77; 2.96 ± 1.81) to postseason (6.79 ± 6.75; 1.90 ± 1.02) in the low and high header groups, respectively ( p =.024, partial h 2 =0.313). There were no other statistically significant changes in HRV for any other time or frequency domain outcome measure. Conclusion Our preliminary findings indicate that the LF/HF in the high header group differed from the low header group over the course of a soccer season. This may indicate that an increased number of chronic head impacts might result in an imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, which would signify an alteration in autonomic function. These preliminary results demonstrate that additional research is needed in order to further understand the effects of heading on ANS function. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .