Observational studySports health
Head Impact Exposures Among Youth Tackle and Flag American Football Athletes.
Observational study in Sports health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Performance of Oral Cavity Sensors: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Pooled it
- Head Games: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Examining Concussion and Head Impact Incidence Rates, Modifiable Risk Factors, and Prevention Strategies in Youth Tackle Football.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- Sex Differences in Head Acceleration Events in Law Enforcement Corrections Cadets.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2025Article
- Delaying Tackling in Youth Contact Sports: Moving toward a Safer Future or Softening the Game?Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Article
- A Description of Suspected Concussions in Football-Related Activities among K-12 Students in Utah.The Journal of school nursing : the official publication of the National Association of School Nurses · 2024Article
- Characterizing Head Acceleration Events in Law Enforcement Cadets During Subject Control Technique Training.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2024Article
- Youth Tackle Football Head-Impact Estimation by Players and Parents: Is the Perception the Reality?Journal of athletic training · 2023Article
- Validation of an instrumented mouthguard in rugby union-a pilot study comparing impact sensor technology to video analysis.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Article
- Prevalence of Suspected Concussions Among K-12 Students in Utah: Findings From Utah's Student Injury Reporting System.The Journal of school health · 2022Article
- American football: Watch Your Head!Frontiers for young minds · 2021Article
- Differences in Head Impact Exposures Between Youth Tackle and Flag Football Games and Practices: Potential Implications for Prevention Strategies.The American journal of sports medicine · 2021Article
- Looking Back.Sports healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPromoted as a safer alternative to tackle football, there has been an increase in flag football participation in recent years. However, examinations of head impact exposure in flag football as compared with tackle football are currently limited. HYPOTHESIS: Tackle football athletes will have a greater number and magnitude of head impacts compared with flag football athletes. STUDY
designCohort study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 4.
methodsUsing mouthguard sensors, this observational, prospective cohort study captured data on the number and magnitude of head impacts among 524 male tackle and flag football athletes (6-14 years old) over the course of a single football season. Estimates of interest based on regression models used Bayesian methods to estimate differences between tackle and flag athletes.
resultsThere were 186,239 head impacts recorded during the study. Tackle football athletes sustained 14.67 (95% CI 9.75-21.95) times more head impacts during an athletic exposure (game or practice) compared with flag football athletes. Magnitude of impact for the 50th and 95th percentile was 18.15
conclusionThis study demonstrates that youth athletes who play tackle football are more likely to experience a greater number of head impacts and are at a markedly increased risk for high-magnitude impacts compared with flag football athletes. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: These results suggest that flag football has fewer head impact exposures, which potentially minimizes concussion risk, making it a safer alternative for 6- to 14-year-old youth football athletes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.