New, reconditioned football helmets provide similar benefits for high school players
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* Natalie McGill

When it comes to football helmets, there is no difference in how a new helmet and a reconditioned one perform among high school players as far as recovery from concussive symptoms, a recent study found.

But helmets that had not been reconditioned resulted in worse concussive symptoms among players, according to a study published online Feb. 23 in the *American Journal of Sports Medicine*.

Reconditioned helmets are ones with replaced or repaired broken parts and padding, which have been tested to make sure they meet their original National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment impact test standards.

Researchers wanted to see whether characteristics such as the manufacturer and reconditioned status influenced concussion outcomes, said Dawn Comstock, PhD, the lead study author and associate professor of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health’s Program for Injury Prevention, Education and Research.

“For a long time there’s been questions about what’s the best helmet, the most protective helmet or if the type of helmet worn matters,” Comstock told *The Nation’s Health*.

The study examined helmet data — manufacturer, make and whether helmets were new, reconditioned or not reconditioned — and high school football concussion statistics from the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study from the 2008-2009 through the 2012-2013 school years. Nearly 93 percent of all helmets logged had a National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment seal of approval. The approval means the helmets met impact testing standards required to provide a substantial protection for serious head injuries.

Overall, participating schools reported 2,900 concussions occurring during more than 3.5 million athlete competitions or practices, resulting in an overall rate of 8.2 concussions for every 10,000 athletic exposures, the study said.

The study found no major difference in concussive symptoms and the amount of time it took for an injured player to be released to resume play among students who wore new helmets and those who wore reconditioned helmets.

Researchers found that 53 percent of helmets that players wore were not new, about 21 percent of were new, and the age of the helmet was not reported or unknown for about 26 percent of helmets. However, nearly 92 percent of helmets that were not new were reconditioned. Most high school football players in the study wore helmets manufactured by Riddell and Schutt, at about 61 percent and 38 percent respectively.

While only 4.3 percent of athletes with concussions wore an old helmet that was not reconditioned, those players took longer to recover from concussive symptoms compared to players with new and reconditioned helmets, the study said.

Comstock said parents should be “very cautious” when looking at rating systems for helmet protection, as those do not always directly equal how the helmet performs during a real game. In addition to looking for helmets with the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment seal, parents should be proactive and ask about the age and reconditioning status of the helmets being used, rather than assume they are safe for play.

She added that the public health community needs to raise awareness among parents that they can question sports authorities, such as coaches, the same way they question child care providers.

“Parents need to be asking questions of coaches in schools and sports leagues to ensure that their children are being kept as safe as possible while they experience the wonderful positive benefits attributed to participating in sports and recreation activities,” Comstock said.

For more information, visit [http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/02/22/0363546516629626](http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/02/22/0363546516629626)

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