Effects of Current Exercise and Diet on Late-Life Cognitive Health of Former College Football Players

Hinton, Pamela S.; Johnstone, Brick; Blaine, Edward H.; Bodling, Angela M.

doi:10.3810/psm.2011.09.1916

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…72 Authors of epidemiologic and intervention studies 73,74 have suggested that overall physical activity preserves or improves cognitive function during aging; therefore, the failure to control for current activity levels among retired players versus control groups in most research presented a potential bias. However, only a minority of studies 26,35,38,42,48,52 controlled for the modifiable risk factors, such as diet and physical activity, that accounted for physical activity engagement and exercise frequency. Similarly, only a small proportion of investigators 22,23,28,30,[50][51][52] examined factors such as body mass index, weight-to-height ratio, or cardiovascular health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, only a minority of studies 26,35,38,42,48,52 controlled for the modifiable risk factors, such as diet and physical activity, that accounted for physical activity engagement and exercise frequency. Similarly, only a small proportion of investigators 22,23,28,30,[50][51][52] examined factors such as body mass index, weight-to-height ratio, or cardiovascular health. These factors may affect cognitive functioning: a meta-analysis 75 indicated that being categorized in the overweight or obese range in midlife was a risk factor for dementia later in life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the propensity toward being overweight in this population, 76 the risk of cognitive impairment may be elevated. 77 Hinton et al 52 found that dietary fat intake was more associated with self-reported cognitive difficulties than was exposure to football alone among former collegiate football players. Wright et al 28 reported that body mass index was associated with cognitive-reserve outcomes in retired NFL players.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Six studies 15,32,35,46,52,55 used subjective (self-reported) cognitive tests alone. The re-* References 14,19,21,23,24,27,28,30,34,36,37,39,41,43,44,47,[49][50][51]55. †References 16,18,20,25,35,40,42,45,46,48,52 (Figure 3). Memory was the most commonly studied cognitive health outcome (n ¼ 31, 67%), followed by attention (n ¼ 17, 37%) and global cognitive ability (n ¼ 16, 35%).…”

Section: Types Of Outcome Measures Usedmentioning

confidence: 99%

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History of Sport-Related Concussion and Long-Term Clinical Cognitive Health Outcomes in Retired Athletes: A Systematic Review

Cunningham

Broglio

O’Grady

et al. 2020

Journal of Athletic Training

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Background Sport-related concussions (SRCs) are known to have short-term effects on cognitive processes, which can result in diverse clinical presentations. The long-term effects of SRC and repeated exposure to head impacts that do not result in SRC on specific cognitive health outcomes remain unclear. Objectives To synthesize and appraise the evidence base regarding cognitive health in living retired athletes with a history of head-impact exposure or SRC. Data Sources A systematic search of the EMBASE, PsycINFO, MEDLINE/PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science databases was conducted from inception to April 2018 using common key words and medical subject headings related to 3 components: (1) the participant (eg, retired athlete), (2) the primary outcome measure (eg, cognitive test used), and (3) the secondary outcome measure (eg, history of sport concussion). Study Selection Cross-sectional studies of living retired male or female athletes in which at least 1 cognitive test was used as an outcome measure were included. Two reviewers independently screened studies. Data Extraction Data extraction was performed using Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. Methodologic quality was assessed independently by 2 reviewers using the Downs and Black tool. Data Synthesis The search yielded 46 cross-sectional observational studies that were included in a qualitative synthesis. Most included studies (80%, n = 37) were published in the 5 years before our review. A large proportion of these studies (n = 20) included retired American National Football League players. The other research investigated professional, university, high school, and amateur retired athletes participating in sports such as American and Australian football, boxing, field and ice hockey, rugby, and soccer. The total sample consisted of 13 975 participants: 7387 collision-sport athletes, 662 contact-sport athletes, 3346 noncontact-sport athletes, and 2580 participants classified as controls. Compared with control participants or normative data, retired athletes displayed worse performance in 17 of 31 studies (55%) of memory, 6 of 11 studies (55%) of executive function, and 4 of 6 studies (67%) of psychomotor function and increased subjective concerns about cognitive function in 11 of 14 studies (79%). The authors of 13 of 46 investigations (28%) reported a frequency-response relationship, with poorer cognitive outcomes in athletes who had greater levels of exposure to head impacts or concussions. However, these results must be interpreted in light of the lack of methodologic rigor and moderate quality assessment of the included studies. Conclusions Evidence of poorer cognitive health among retired athletes with a history of concussion and head-impact exposure is evolving. Our results suggest that a history of SRC may more greatly affect the cognitive domains of memory, executive function, and psychomotor function. Retired athletes appeared to have increased self-reported cognitive difficulties, but the paucity of high-quality, prospective studies limited the conclusions that could be drawn regarding a cause-and-effect relationship between concussion and long-term health outcomes. Future researchers should consider a range of cognitive health outcomes, as well as premorbid ability, in diverse samples of athletes with or without a history of concussion or head-impact exposure to delineate the long-term effects of sport participation on cognitive functioning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Types Of Outcome Measures Usedmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

History of Sport-Related Concussion and Long-Term Clinical Cognitive Health Outcomes in Retired Athletes: A Systematic Review

Cunningham

Broglio

O’Grady

et al. 2020

Journal of Athletic Training

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“…As the frequency of concussions increase, the deficits in learning and memory, processing speed, and verbal fluency presented an aggravation trend in university-level football and ice hockey players after one single season [15]. More recent evidence suggested that deficits may remain in partial cognitive domains for two to three years after a SRC [16,17], and even continue to cause neuropsychological dysfunction later in life [18,19]. One recent cross-sectional study including 93 former collegiate players was conducted by Montenigro et al, showing that there were close relationships between SRCs and later-life cognitive consequences [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Cognitive Performance of Retired Athletes with Sport-Related Concussion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Zhang

Chen

et al. 2019

Brain Sciences

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Objective: The purpose of this systematic review is to quantitatively estimate (or invest) the impacts of sports-related concussions (SRCs) on cognitive performance among retired athletes more than 10 years after retirement. Methods: Six databases including (MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, and PsycArtilces) were employed to retrieve the related studies. Studies that evaluate the association between cognitive function and the SRC of retired athletes sustaining more than 10 years were included. Results: A total of 11 studies that included 792 participants (534 retired athletes with SRC) were identified. The results indicated that the retired athletes with SRCs, compared to the non-concussion group, had significant cognitive deficits in verbal memory (SMD = −0.29, 95% CI −0.59 to −0.02, I2 = 52.8%), delayed recall (SMD = −0.30, 95% CI –0.46 to 0.07, I2 = 27.9%), and attention (SMD = −0.33, 95% CI −0.59 to −0.06, I2 = 0%). Additionally, meta-regression demonstrated that the period of time between testing and the last concussion is significantly associated with reduced verbal memory (β = −0.03681, p = 0.03), and increasing age is significantly associated with the verbal memory (β = −0.03767, p = 0.01), immediate recall (β = −0.08684, p = 0.02), and delay recall (β = −0.07432, p = 0.02). Conclusion: The retired athletes who suffered from SRCs during their playing career had declined cognitive performance in partial domains (immediate recall, visuospatial ability, and reaction time) later in life.

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Association of Playing College American Football With Long-term Health Outcomes and Mortality

et al. 2022

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Effects of Current Exercise and Diet on Late-Life Cognitive Health of Former College Football Players

Cited by 15 publications

References 43 publications

History of Sport-Related Concussion and Long-Term Clinical Cognitive Health Outcomes in Retired Athletes: A Systematic Review

History of Sport-Related Concussion and Long-Term Clinical Cognitive Health Outcomes in Retired Athletes: A Systematic Review

Long-Term Cognitive Performance of Retired Athletes with Sport-Related Concussion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Association of Playing College American Football With Long-term Health Outcomes and Mortality

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