A case-control study of tackle based head impact event (HIE) risk factors from the first three seasons of the National Rugby League Women's competition

Frontiers in Sports and Active Living

Sports and Active Living

Ben Jones¹  Mily Spiegelhalter²  Stephen W. West³  Ross Tucker⁴  Grant L. Iverson⁵  Suzi Edwards⁶  Georgia Page⁷  Shreya McLeod⁸  Andrew J. Gardner⁹ 

[1] Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom;Division of Physiological Sciences, Department of Human Biology, UCT Research Centre for Health Through Physical Activity (HPALS), Lifestyle and Sport, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;England Performance Unit, Rugby Football League, Red Hall, Leeds, United Kingdom;Leeds Rhinos Rugby League Club, Leeds, United Kingdom;Premiership Rugby, London, United Kingdom;Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom;England Performance Unit, Rugby Football League, Red Hall, Leeds, United Kingdom;Leeds Rhinos Rugby League Club, Leeds, United Kingdom;Centre for Health, and Injury & Illness Prevention in Sport, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom;UK Collaborating Centre on Injury and Illness Prevention in Sport (UKCCIIS), University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom;Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada;Department of Exercise, Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine (ISEM), University of Stellenbosch, South Africa;World Rugby Ltd., Dublin, Ireland;Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States;Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States;Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Schoen Adams Research Institute at Spaulding Rehabilitation, Charlestown, MA, United States;MassGeneral Hospital for Children Sports Concussion Program, Boston, MA, United States;Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia;School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine, & Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia;School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine, & Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia;Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Allied Health, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, NSW, Australia;School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine, & Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia;Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia;Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom;Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton, NSW, Australia;

关键词: head impact events;    rugby league;    tackle;    female athlete;    brain concussion;    mild traumatic brain injury;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fspor.2023.1080356

 received in 2022-10-26, accepted in 2023-05-11,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveThe tackle is the most injurious event in rugby league and carries the greatest risk of concussion. This study aims to replicate previous research conducted in professional men's rugby league by examining the association between selected tackle characteristics and head impact events (HIEs) in women's professional rugby league.MethodsWe reviewed and coded 83 tackles resulting in an HIE and every tackle (6,318 tackles) that did not result in an HIE for three seasons (2018–2020) of the National Rugby League Women's (NRLW) competition. Tackle height, body position of the tackler and ball carrier, as well as the location of head contact with the other player's body were evaluated. Propensity of each situation that caused an HIE was calculated as HIEs per 1,000 tackles.ResultsThe propensity for tacklers to sustain an HIE was 6.60 per 1,000 tackles (95% CI: 4.87–8.92), similar to that of the ball carrier (6.13 per 1,000 tackles, 95% CI: 4.48–8.38). The greatest risk of an HIE to either the tackler or ball carrier occurred when head proximity was above the sternum (21.66 per 1,000 tackles, 95% CI: 16.55–28.35). HIEs were most common following impacts between two heads (287.23 HIEs per 1,000 tackles, 95% CI: 196.98–418.84). The lowest propensity for both tackler (2.65 per 1,000 tackles, 95% CI: 0.85–8.20) and ball carrier HIEs (1.77 per 1,000 tackles, 95% CI: 0.44–7.06) occurred when the head was in proximity to the opponent's shoulder and arm. No body position (upright, bent or unbalanced/off feet) was associated with an increased propensity of HIE to either tackler or ball carrier.ConclusionsIn the NRLW competition, tacklers and ball carriers have a similar risk of sustaining an HIE during a tackle, differing from men's NRL players, where tacklers have a higher risk of HIEs. Further studies involving larger samples need to validate these findings. However, our results indicate that injury prevention initiatives in women's rugby league should focus on how the ball carrier engages in contact during the tackle as well as how the tackler executes the tackle.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© 2023 McLeod, Tucker, Edwards, Jones, Page, Spiegelhalter, West, Iverson and Gardner.