Premium
Game time environmental conditions and concussion rate in college football (884.28)
Author(s) -
Harwood J.,
Pennetti Alex,
Milne Kevin
Publication year - 2014
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.28.1_supplement.884.28
Subject(s) - concussion , football , athletes , wind speed , relative humidity , environmental science , medicine , psychology , poison control , injury prevention , geography , physical therapy , meteorology , environmental health , archaeology
A central function of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is to limit brain impact against the bony interior surface of the skull during jarring movements. Dehydration of approximately 2% of total body volume can reduce CSF volume by 10%. In prolonged competition, especially in hot, humid conditions, athletes commonly reach or exceed this level of dehydration, potentially reducing the brain’s natural cushioning system and increasing the susceptibility to impact concussion injury. Moreover, protective athletic equipment may lose its effectiveness in the extremes of heat or cold. It is unknown, however, whether the frequency of concussion is impacted by typical environmental conditions experienced during the college football season. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to observe the relationship between game time environmental conditions and the incidence of reported concussion during Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) NCAA football games. METHODS: Reported concussions (420) during competition and game time (i.e. within 30 min of game start) temperature (T), humidity (H) and wind speed (WS) were collected from publicly available data for 3645 FBS NCAA football games for the 5 year period 2008‐2012. Indoor (dome) games (82 games, 8 concussions) and games for which hourly weather data could not be found (106 games, 8 concussions) were not included in the analysis. Environmental conditions were binned prior to frequency analysis. RESULTS: Game concussion frequency was not significantly related to T, H or WS and not related to environmental extremes (i.e. heat index or wind chill). CONCLUSION: Environmental conditions do not impact concussion frequency in college football.