Wearing a Guardian Cap Does Not Mitigate On-Field Head Impact Severity

Abstract

ABSTRACT – Purpose – Guardian Cap usage is growing among youth, college, and professional football players. Little on-field data exist describing Guardian Cap effectiveness, with combined published evidence based on less than 1000 Guardian Cap impacts. Our objective was to compare on-field head impact biomechanics (magnitude, location, frequency) between college football athletes wearing a Guardian Cap and teammates not wearing a Guardian Cap during practices and games throughout a season. Methods – Fifty-four participants from two institutions were enrolled. Eleven (20.4%) wore a Guardian Cap for all contact practices, and 43 (79.6%) did not wear a Guardian Cap for one season. Instrumented mouthguards recorded on-field head impact kinematics. Impact magnitude (linear mixed effects models), frequency, and location (generalized linear mixed models) were analyzed. Results – A total of 7509 impacts were recorded, including 1379 impacts (18.4%) when the Guardian Cap was worn. There were no significant effects of Guardian Cap use for any impact magnitude outcome (P ≥ 0.127) or impact frequency (P = 0.508). The odds of a facemask impact relative to other locations were 36.2% lower among those wearing the Guardian Cap relative to nonwearers (P = 0.014). The odds of a rear impact relative to other locations were 151.6% greater among those wearing the Guardian Cap relative to nonwearers (P = 0.001). Conclusions – The Guardian Cap had no on-field effect on head impact magnitude or frequency, but impact location patterns presented between wearers and nonwearers, suggesting that Guardian Cap usage could influence how players use their head during collisions. Our findings partially align with other published data. The effect of Guardian Cap use on other factors we did not explore (e.g., injury epidemiology, clinical injury management) warrants consideration in the context of the data we present.