Helmet Brand May Not Matter, Research Suggests

Wearing a helmet definitely helps protect high school football athletes from getting a concussion. And it may not matter which brand of helmet an athlete wears, according to new research.

Contrary to the claims made by some equipment manufacturers, “the specific brand of helmet and helmet age were not associated with lower risk of concussion,” researchers said during a presentation at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Annual Meeting in Chicago.

According to the study, conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, the risk of sustaining a sports-related concussion and its severity did not improve by wearing a specific brand of helmet. Additionally, players were just as likely to get a concussion whether their helmet was new or older, said lead author Timothy McGuine in a news release from the AOSSM.

“It is also interesting to note that players who wore a generic mouth guard provided by the school had a lower rate of (sports-related concussions) compared to players with more expensive mouth guards,” McGuine said.

Researchers analyzed data from 36 public and private high schools in Wisconsin during the 2012 football season. More than 1,300 players enrolled in the study. About 250 of them had reported at least one sport-related concussion in in the previous six years. Of those, 171 said they had one sports-related concussion within the previous 12 months.

Licensed athletic trainers kept track of each student’s helmet brand, model and purchase year, as well as the type of mouth guard they wore. The trainers also recorded the number of sports-related concussions that happened during practices and games.

“Increased risk of concussions in our study was not associated with age, BMI, grade in school, level of competition or years of football experience. However, players with a history of SRC were twice as likely to sustain another one compared to players without a history. Additional screening to identify those players with increased concussion risk is a key to prevention and hopefully with help reduce rates in the future,” McGuine said.

+ Is someone in your family an athlete? Learn about ImPACT™ Neurocognitive Testing. ImPACT™ is a computer-based program that tests multiple aspects of brain function. Athletes, especially those involved in contact sports who are susceptible to concussions, should have a test before the season begins, to establish a baseline. If they sustain a head injury, they should be retested. This gives athletic trainers, physicians and other health care professionals a comparison to determine if it is safe for the athlete to return to play.