Thomas MO, Allen KS and Alex BD
Approximately 1.6-3.8 million mild traumatic brain injuries occur each year as a direct result of sports participation [1-6]. Football, particularly at the high school level, is the most common sport associated with these injuries [2]. As a collision sport, helmets are an important protective device [4]. Age, condition, and fit of football helmets are important factors in optimizing their protective properties. We hypothesized that due to inconsistent staffing, a lack of resources, and decreased general awareness of the problem, high school athletic programs have suboptimal supervision and care of their helmet inventory thereby decreasing head-trauma related safety for their athletes. Further to this point, we hypothesized that helmets in private schools and suburban areas will be newer, better conditioned, and better inspected than helmets in rural and inner city areas. We undertook this study to investigate the current status of helmet testing, maintenance, and fitting in a cohort of high schools in Middle Tennessee.
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