Headgear increases protection against acute concussion symptoms in amateur Olympic boxers

This study compared acute measures of concussion in Olympic boxers undergoing a combat. This is a case-control study where participants were measured in two conditions: a) using headgear (HG) and b) without using headgear (NHG). Thus, 14 athletes (24.9±5.1 yrs.; 77.1±13.9 kg; 1.7±0.1 m; 14.4±6.4 % body fat) completed this protocol. Tests were carried out before and after the combat (3 rounds of 3' with 1' interval) as indicators of concussion (BtrackS concussion test, automatic and controlled executive function, direct and indirect memory). A technical-tactical analysis protocol was also applied to verify the effect of HG on the actions during the combat. The HG condition showed better performance on the BtrackS concussion test (30.3±11.3 vs. 38.5±12.2; p=0.039), automatic executive function (38.0±6.0 vs. 50.4±11.4; p=0.014), and controlled (55.3±8.1 vs. 76.4±11.5; p=0.016). There was a significant difference in the number of punches connected to the head (38.5±12.0 vs. 51.1±14.7 for HG and NHG respectively; p=0.047). Based on our aims and the results obtained, our data support the acute protective effect of using HG in amateur Olympic male boxing against the concussion indicators. Keywords: Combat sports, Boxing, Olympic Games, Brain concussion, Cognition, Sport rules