Age of first exposure to football and later-life cognitive impairment in former NFL players.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To determine the relationship between exposure to repeated head impacts through tackle football prior to age 12, during a key period of brain development, and later-life executive function, memory, and estimated verbal IQ.

Methods

Forty-two former National Football League (NFL) players ages 40-69 from the Diagnosing and Evaluating Traumatic Encephalopathy using Clinical Tests (DETECT) study were matched by age and divided into 2 groups based on their age of first exposure (AFE) to tackle football: AFE <12 and AFE ≥12. Participants completed the Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST), Neuropsychological Assessment Battery List Learning test (NAB-LL), and Wide Range Achievement Test, 4th edition (WRAT-4) Reading subtest as part of a larger neuropsychological testing battery

SUBMITTER: Stamm JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4371403 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature