Headgear mandates in high school girls’ lacrosse: investigating differences in impact rates and game play behaviors
Creators: name: Caswell, Shane V.
name: Kelshaw, Patricia M.
name: Hacherl, Samantha L.
name: Lincoln, Andrew E.
name: Herman, Daniel C.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Medicine
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Science Policy

description: Headgear designed to protect girls’ lacrosse athletes is widely available and permitted for voluntary use; however, it remains unknown how policies mandating headgear use may change the sport and, particularly regarding impacts during game-play. Therefore, this study compares the impact rates and game play characteristics of girls’ high school lacrosse in Florida which mandates headgear use (HM), with states having no headgear mandate (NHM). Video from 189 randomly-selected games (HM: 64, NHM: 125) were analyzed. Descriptive statistics, Impact Rates (IR), Impact Rate Ratios (IRR), Impact Proportion Ratios (IPR), and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) were calculated. IRRs and IPRs with corresponding CIs that excluded 1.00 were deemed statistically significant. 16,340 impacts (HM:5,821 NHM: 10,519; 86.6 impacts/game, CI: 88.6–93.3) were identified using the Lacrosse Incident Analysis Instrument (LIAI). Most impacts directly struck the body (<i>n</i> = 16,010, 98%). A minority of impacts directly struck a player’s head (<i>n</i> = 330, 2%). The rate of head impacts was significantly higher in the HM cohort than NHM cohort (IRR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.7–2.6). Most head impacts (<i>n</i> = 271, 82%) were caused by stick contact in both groups. There was no difference in the proportion of penalties administered for head impacts caused by stick contact between the HM and NHM cohorts (IPR IRRHM/NHM = 0.98; CI = 0.79–1.16). However, there was a significantly greater proportion of head impacts caused by player contact that resulted in a penalty administered in the HM cohort (IPR = 1.44 CI = 1.17–1.54) These findings demonstrate that mandating headgear use was associated with a two-fold greater likelihood of sustaining a head impact during game play compared to NHM states. A majority of head impacts in both HM and NHM states were caused by illegal stick contact that did not result in penalty. High school girls’ lacrosse athletes participating in a state with a headgear mandate was twice as likely to sustain a head impact than those participating in states without headgear mandates.Stick contact remains the most common mechanism of head impacts in girls’ lacrosse, regardless of mandating headgear.Regardless of whether headgear was or was not mandated, most head impacts caused by stick contact did not result in a penalty. High school girls’ lacrosse athletes participating in a state with a headgear mandate was twice as likely to sustain a head impact than those participating in states without headgear mandates. Stick contact remains the most common mechanism of head impacts in girls’ lacrosse, regardless of mandating headgear. Regardless of whether headgear was or was not mandated, most head impacts caused by stick contact did not result in a penalty.