Objective:

The objective of this study is to understand the feasibility and compliance of deploying mouthguard technology measuring head impacts in NCAA Division 1 football players.

Background:

Hit-IQ, an Australian-based company, has developed a wearable technology in the form of mouthguards that measures the impact of a hit to the body. The mouthguards are custom made using digital scans and are equipped with two accelerometers inside the guard. The first step in validating the use of this tool for contact athletes is to explore the wearability.

Design/Methods:

Participants at a single NCAA Division 1 football program were recruited for this study if they were 18 years or older and English speaking. Once consented, participants met with a representative from Hit-IQ who performed oral scans on each player to create the custom guards. Researchers attended practices/games during the Fall 2022 football season to distribute and collect the guards, receive feedback, and address any participant concerns.

Results:

There were 18 participants included in the study. Of the participants, 12 were offensive players, 4 defense, and 2 special teams. 14 of the participants played in at least one game, and 5 of those players were starters on the team. Mouthguards were deployed at 34 practices, and players wore them an average of 26.94 practices (79% of the time). Mouthguards were deployed at 11 NCAA games and were worn an average of 8.5 games (78% of the time). The main barriers to mouthguard wear included broken mouthguards and athlete injuries where they did not participate in play.

Conclusions:

Participants at this institution demonstrated high compliance rate with wearing their mouthguard to practices and games. This technology could potentially be implemented on a wider scale and help lead to a clearer understanding of concussive impacts.