Principle Investigator: Marianne Wilhelm, PhD
Cynthia A. Bir, PhD, Albert I King, PhD, Wayne State University
Marilyn Boitano, MD, USA Boxing
Richard Greenwald, PhD, Simbex, LLC
Institution: Wayne State University
Title: Assessment of MBTI in Female Boxers
The objective of this proposal is to evaluate MTBI (subconcussive and concussive) in female amateur boxers in a prospective study to develop gender-specific recommendations for the prevention of MTBI. The central hypothesis is that there is a significant gender-related difference in the clinical and biomechanical predictors of MTBI in amateur boxers. Based on this hypothesis, this evaluation will include female amateur boxers and a cohort of male amateur boxers. The specific aims are to:
1) Determine the location, frequency, and severity of impacts in male and female amateur boxing events using an acceleration-based, real-time measurement system. The expected outcome of this aim is that the location, frequency, and severity of impacts are significantly different between male and female boxers.
2) Perform both cognitive and clinical assessments of boxers before and after possible concussive impacts. Baseline and post-bout testing will include a clinical evaluation by a ringside physician, the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT), ImPACT © Concussion Management software, and serum biomarker S-100 ß levels. These evaluations will be performed on both male and female athletes to assist in the testing of the central hypothesis.
3) Determine whether or not the type, severity, and frequency of punches have a significant effect on cognitive and clinical assessments with gender as a co-variate . The working hypothesis for this aim is that acceleration measurements obtained using the real-time system will correlate to gender specific changes observed in the clinical and cognitive assessments. One of most important expected outcomes of this study is the development of female specific guidelines for protective equipment and boxing regulations to aid in the prevention and identification of MTBI. The proposed research is innovative because female boxers have never been studied with respect to MTBI, yet MTBI is common, and almost expected, within the sport of boxing. Previous studies that have focused on boxing have been purely limited to male boxers (Matser, Kessels et al., 2000). The research proposed in this study is significant given the recent increase in the number of female boxers, and the desire to have equality with respect to bout guidelines. With the previous cases of subdural hematomas being reported (Miele, Carson et al., 2004) and the recent death of a female boxer (Briggs, 2005), this need is even more apparent.