History of Multiple Self-Reported Concussions is Not Associated with Reduced Cognitive Abilities (original) (raw)

The Effect of Prior Concussions on Cognitive Performance in Recreational College Athletes

Anatomy & Physiology, 2018

Context: Sports-related concussions impact between 1.6 and 3.0 million athletes annually in the USA. Although the CDC has qualified sports-related concussion as an epidemic, there is a significant lack of data regarding the best way to assess the long-term effects of concussion, especially in recreational athletes. Objective: To assess the relationship between concussion history and cognitive performance in a group of recreational athletes.

Normative Data for a Comprehensive Neuropsychological Test Battery used in the Assessment of Sports-Related Concussion

Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists, 2017

The use of normative data is a hallmark of the neuropsychological assessment process. Within the context of sports-related concussion, utilizing normative data is especially essential when individualized baseline data are unavailable for comparison. The primary purpose of this study was to establish normative data for a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery used in the assessment of sports-related concussion. A secondary aim was to provide normative data for pertinent demographic variables relevant to the assessment of college athletes, including sex, previous head injuries (PHI), and history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)/learning disability (LD). Participants included male and female college athletes (N = 794) who were involved in a concussion management program at an NCAA Division I university between 2002 and 2015. Athletes were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery at baseline designed to assess the following cognitive domains:...

Assessing the enduring residual neuropsychological effects of head trauma in college athletes who participate in contact sports

Archives of clinical neuropsychology, 2005

The present study examined the enduring residual neuropsychological effects of head trauma in college athletes using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), Postconcussion Syndrome Checklist, and the Stroop task. Based on a brief self-report concussion history survey, male and female athletes who participated in ice hockey, field hockey, lacrosse, and/or soccer were assigned to one of three concussion-history conditions: Non-concussed, Non-recent concussed (i.e., more than 2 years since last concussion), or Recent concussed (i.e., 2 years or less since last concussion). A fourth group of subjects consisting of non-concussed/non-athletes served in the control condition. Group differences emerged on the RBANS when immediate memory, delayed memory, and total scores were analyzed. Specifically, recent concussed athletes and, surprisingly, non-concussed athletes scored lower than control subjects in the two memory domains, whereas all three athlete groups had lower total RBANS scores than those of control subjects. Moreover, recent concussed athletes not only had lower immediate memory scores than control subjects, but also were impaired relative to non-recent concussed athlete subjects in this memory domain. No group differences were detected on the Stroop task or on the Postconcussion Syndrome Checklist. Interestingly, however, the severity of the Postconcussion Syndrome Checklist scores for the two athlete-concussed groups, taken in aggregate, correlated negatively with RBANS scores for attention (r = −.65) and delayed memory (r = −.61), and with the total RBANS score (r = −.59). In recent concussed athletes, lower delayed memory scores correlated with more severe Postconcussion Symptom Checklist scores (r = −.90), while more severe/higher number of concussions correlated with increased processing speed on the Stroop interference task (r = .90). These findings indicate that recent head injury produces alterations in neuropsychological function, especially that of memory, that resolve with time. More provocatively, the data also suggest that participation * Corresponding author. in contact sports may produce sub-clinical cognitive impairments in the absence of a diagnosable concussion presumably resulting from the cumulative consequences produced by multiple mild head trauma.

Multiple Concussions and Neuropsychological Functioning in Collegiate Football Players

Journal of athletic training, 2001

OBJECTIVE: To document neurocognitive and neurobehavioral consequences of 1 versus 2 concussions. DESIGN AND SETTING: Nonequivalent, pretest-posttest cohort design with multiple dependent measures. Participants were selected from a large sample of athletes who participated in a comprehensive, multiuniversity study of football-related concussion. SUBJECTS: College football players who sustained 1 and 2 grade 1 concussive injuries were matched for age, education, and duration of competitive football. MEASUREMENTS: Neuropsychological tests and symptoms checklists. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis of variance did not show a statistically significant difference in test performance between players with 1 or 2 concussions. Chi square analyses revealed that concussions significantly increased the number of symptom complaints, but symptoms returned to baseline by 10 days postinjury. The effects of 2 injuries did not appear to be significantly greater than that of a single injury. Differences i...

Post-concussion Symptom Factors and Neuropsychological Outcomes in Collegiate Athletes

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society

Objectives: Research indicates that symptoms following a concussion are related to cognitive dysfunction; however, less is known about how different types of symptoms may be related to cognitive outcomes or how specific domains of cognition are affected. The present study explored the relationship between specific types of symptoms and these various cognitive outcomes following a concussion. Methods: One-hundred twenty-two student-athletes with sports-related concussion were tested with a battery that included a symptom report measure and various cognitive tests. Symptoms factors were: Physical, Sleep, Cognitive, Affective and Headache. Participants were grouped into “symptom” and “no symptom” groups for each factor. Cognitive outcomes included both overall performance as well as impairment scores in which individuals were grouped into impaired and not impaired based on a cutoff of 2 or more tests at the impaired level (<80 in standard scores). These cognitive outcomes were exami...

The neuropsychological impact of sports-related concussion: A meta-analysis

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2005

There is increasing interest in the potential neuropsychological impact of sports-related concussion. A meta-analysis of the relevant literature was conducted to determine the impact of sports-related concussion across six cognitive domains. The analysis was based on 21 studies involving 790 cases of concussion and 2014 control cases. The overall effect of concussion (d= 0.49) was comparable to the effect found in the non-sports-related mild traumatic brain injury population (d= 0.54; Belanger et al., 2005). Using sports-concussed participants with a history of prior head injury appears to inflate the effect sizes associated with the current sports-related concussion. Acute effects (within 24 hr of injury) of concussion were greatest for delayed memory, memory acquisition, and global cognitive functioning (d= 1.00, 1.03, and 1.42, respectively). However, no residual neuropsychological impairments were found when testing was completed beyond 7 days postinjury. These findings were mod...

Concussion in Sports: Postconcussive Activity Levels, Symptoms, and Neurocognitive Performance

Journal of Athletic Training, 2008

Context: Evidence suggests that athletes engaging in high-intensity activities after concussion have more difficulties with cognitive recovery. Objective: To examine the role postinjury activity level plays in postconcussive symptoms and performance on neurocognitive tests in a population of student-athletes. Design: Retrospective cohort study with repeated measures of neurocognitive performance and symptom reporting. Setting: University-based sports concussion clinic. Patients or Other Participants: Ninety-five student-athletes (80 males, 15 females: age = 15.88 ± 1.35 years) were retrospectively assigned to 1 of 5 groups based on a postinjury activity intensity scale. Main Outcome Measure(s): We employed a regression analysis for repeated measures to evaluate the relationship of activity intensity to symptoms and neurocognitive outcome up to 33 days after concussion. Postconcussion symptom scores and neurocognitive (verbal memory, visual memory, visual motor speed, and reaction ...