A research team member contacted qualifying individuals, confirmed eligibility and willingness to participate in the full longitudinal study, and invited enrollment. Exclusion criteria were schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, known neurologic disorder, pregnancy, and medical contraindication to MRI (relevant to a separate arm of the study). Inclusion criteria were age 18–55 years, at least 5 years of active amateur soccer play, current active amateur soccer play, 6 months of amateur soccer play per year, and English language fluency. Interested individuals were directed to an enrollment website, which, after informed consent, collected screening information. Finally, questions were asked about lifetime head injuries.Īny head injury not related to soccer was assessed using a lifetime head injury questionnaire.Īdult amateur soccer players were recruited by print and Internet advertisement and through soccer leagues, clubs, and colleges in New York City and surrounding areas. Participants were asked how often (0–5+ episodes) in the past 2 weeks they experienced heading temporally associated with symptoms, defined as very low impact (no pain = 0), mild impact (slight pain = 1), moderate impact (moderate pain, some dizziness = 2), severe impact (felt dazed, stopped play, needed medical attention = 3), and very severe impact (knocked unconscious = 4).įor indoor and outdoor competition, questions were asked about the number of competitive soccer games, positions played during games, and average number of headings during games.įor all soccer activities in the last 2 weeks, participants were asked how often they experienced unintentional head impacts from specific causes (e.g., ball hitting to the back of the head, head to goal post, head to head). Identical questions are repeated for outdoor and indoor settings and include any practice sessions, number of soccer practice days, average number of headings during practice in the past 2 weeks, and CNS symptoms. HeadCount, completed as a web-based questionnaire, was organized into 5 modules focused on outdoor practice, outdoor games, indoor practice, indoor games, and unintentional head impacts. HeadCount was implemented as a web-based questionnaire, beginning with a single yes/no question on soccer activity. Using data from a 2-week recall 3, 4 questionnaire, we examined the short-term relation of intentional (i.e., heading) and unintentional (i.e., head to head, head to goalpost, etc.) head impacts with CNS symptoms among amateur soccer players. 22 However, because heading was not assessed in this study it was not possible to parse attribution to unintentional vs intentional head impacts 9, 23, – 28 or exposures that also occur during practice. 16, – 21 Recently, it was suggested that persistent CNS effects from soccer in adolescents were explained by collision-related injuries, not heading. Most studies of head injury in other sports have focused on single or repeated concussive injury episodes, now known to cause chronic brain pathology, 15 especially in susceptible individuals. 8 Although published studies have focused on collegiate and professional players, 9, – 14 most soccer players are amateur recreational league players. 1, – 6 Soccer, the most popular sport worldwide, 7 may account for the dominant share of subconcussive exposure in sports, where excess heading (more than 1,000 per year) may be a cause of subclinical brain injury, effects that were not explained by history of recognized concussion. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in athletes is a recognized public health concern.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |