What do under 15 year old schoolboy rugby union players think about protective headgear?

C F Finch¹, A S McIntosh², P McCrory³

¹ Sports Injury Prevention Research Unit, School of Health Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia
² School of Safety Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
³ Centre for Sports Medicine Research and Education, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to: Dr McIntosh, School of Safety Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia a.mcintosh{at}unsw.edu.au

Objectives—When protective headgear is designed, the attitudes of the intended users needs to be taken into account, as well as safety performance criteria. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the attitudes of schoolboy rugby union players towards protective headgear.

Methods—A survey of 140 rugby union players (82.4% response rate) from 10 randomly selected school teams in metropolitan Sydney was conducted at the end of the 1999 playing season. All players were aged 14–16 years. All teams had participated in a trial of headgear during the 1999 season in which six of the teams had been assigned to a headgear trial arm and four teams to a control arm. Players completed a self report questionnaire during a supervised session at school. The questionnaire collected information on recent head injuries, use of protective equipment, and attitudes towards headgear.

Results—Some form of protective equipment was always worn by 76.1% of players: 93.6% reported using a mouthguard and 79.3% a helmet/headgear during the 1999 season. The two most important reasons for wearing headgear were related to safety concerns. Players with no recent head/neck injury were more likely to report that they felt safer when wearing headgear (p<0.001) and less likely to cite a previous injury as a motivating factor for wearing headgear (p<0.001) than those who had sustained a recent head/neck injury. Of the players who wore headgear during the 1999 season, 67% said that they played more confidently when they wore headgear, but 63% said that their head was hotter. Few players reported that their head was uncomfortable (15%) or that it was hard to communicate (3%) when they wore headgear. The main reasons for not wearing headgear were related to its design features: uncomfortable (61%) and it was hot (57%).

Conclusions—The primary reason cited by players for wearing headgear is safety. Receiving an injury would also motivate non-wearers to wear headgear. Players report that they are more confident and able to tackle harder if they wear headgear, suggesting that a belief in its protective capabilities may influence behaviour. These attitudes need to be addressed in the design of effective headgear as well as in strategies to promote its use.

Key Words: headgear; rugby union; schoolboy; prevention; protection; safety

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Davis, G, Fabinyi, G, Le Roux, P, McCrory, P (2009). Clinics in neurology and neurosurgery of sport. Mass lesions: cavernoma. Br. J. Sports. Med. 43: 866-868 [Full Text]  
• Finch, C, Lloyd, D, Elliott, B (2009). The Preventing Australian Football Injuries with Exercise (PAFIX) Study: a group randomised controlled trial. Inj. Prev. 15: e1-e1 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• McCrory, P, Meeuwisse, W, Johnston, K, Dvorak, J, Aubry, M, Molloy, M, Cantu, R (2009). Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport: the 3rd International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich, November 2008. Br. J. Sports. Med. 43: i76-i84 [Full Text]  
• Sye, G., Sullivan, S J., McCrory, P., Milne, C (2006). High school rugby players' understanding of concussion and return to play guidelines.. Br. J. Sports. Med. 40: 1003-1005 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Yang, J., Bowling, J. M., Lewis, M. A., Marshall, S. W., Runyan, C. W., Mueller, F. O. (2005). Use of Discretionary Protective Equipment in High School Athletes: Prevalence and Determinants. AJPH 95: 1996-2002 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• McIntosh, A S, McCrory, P (2005). Preventing head and neck injury. Br. J. Sports. Med. 39: 314-318 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Echlin, P S, Upshur, R E G, Peck, D M, Skopelja, E N (2005). Craniomaxillofacial injury in sport: a review of prevention research. Br. J. Sports. Med. 39: 254-263 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Yang, J., Marshall, S. W., Bowling, J. M., Runyan, C. W., Mueller, F. O., Lewis, M. A. (2005). Use of Discretionary Protective Equipment and Rate of Lower Extremity Injury in High School Athletes. Am J Epidemiol 161: 511-519 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• McIntosh, A S (2005). Risk compensation, motivation, injuries, and biomechanics in competitive sport. Br. J. Sports. Med. 39: 2-3 [Full Text]  
• McCrory, P, Collie, A, Anderson, V, Davis, G (2004). Can we manage sport related concussion in children the same as in adults?. Br. J. Sports. Med. 38: 516-519 [Full Text]  
• Braham, R A, Finch, C F, McIntosh, A, McCrory, P (2004). Community football players' attitudes towards protective equipment--a pre-season measure. Br. J. Sports. Med. 38: 426-430 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Waninger, K. N. (2004). Management of the Helmeted Athlete With Suspected Cervical Spine Injury. Am J Sports Med 32: 1331-1350 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Jones, S J, Lyons, R A, Evans, R, Newcombe, R G, Nash, P, McCabe, M, Palmer, S R (2004). Effectiveness of rugby headgear in preventing soft tissue injuries to the head: a case-control and video cohort study. Br. J. Sports. Med. 38: 159-162 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Finch, C, Donohue, S, Garnham, A (2002). Safety attitudes and beliefs of junior Australian football players. Inj. Prev. 8: 151-154 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Aubry, M, Cantu, R, Dvorak, J, Graf-Baumann, T, Johnston, K, Kelly, J, Lovell, M, McCrory, P, Meeuwisse, W, Schamasch, P (2002). Summary and agreement statement of the first International Conference on Concussion in Sport, Vienna 2001. Br. J. Sports. Med. 36: 6-7 [Full Text]  
• Pettersen, J A (2002). Does rugby headgear prevent concussion? Attitudes of Canadian players and coaches. Br. J. Sports. Med. 36: 19-22 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Quarrie, K. L, Chalmers, D. J (2001). Impact of professionalism on injuries in rugby union. Br. J. Sports. Med. 35: 450-450 [Full Text]