Contact or Collision Sport History, Repetitive Neurotrauma, and Patient-Reported Outcomes in Early to Midadulthood

Abstract

Context: Data on the early to midlife effects of repetitive neurotrauma on patient-reported outcomes have been delimited to homogeneous samples of male athletes without comparison groups or accounting for modifying factors such as physical activity. Objective: To determine the effect of contact or collision sport participation and repetitive neurotrauma on patient-reported outcomes among early to middle-aged adults. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 113 adults (53 [46.9%] men, 60 [53.1%] women; age ¼ 34.88 6 11.80 years) in 4 groups: (1) physically inactive individuals with no repetitive head impact (RHI) exposure (NON); (2) noncontact sport athletes and nonathletes with no RHI exposure who were currently physically active (NCA); (3) former high-risk sport athletes with an RHI history who were physically active (HRS); and (4) former rugby players with prolonged RHI exposure who remained physically active. Main Outcome Measure(s): The 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12), Apathy Evaluation Scale–self-rated version (AES-S), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and Sport Concussion Assessment Tool–5th Edition (SCAT5) Symptom and Symptom Severity Checklist. Results: The NON group had worse self-rated physical function than the NCA group as assessed by the SF-12 physical component summary (P ¼ .03) and worse self-rated apathy (AES-S) and satisfaction with life (SWLS) than the NCA (P ¼ .03 for both) and HRS groups (P ¼ .03 and P ¼ .040, respectively). We observed no group differences for self-rated mental health (SF-12 mental component summary; P ¼ .26) or symptoms (SCAT5; P ¼ .42). Career duration was not associated with any patient-reported outcomes. Conclusions: A history of contact or collision sport participation and career duration did not negatively affect patient-reported outcomes in physically active, early to middle-aged adults. However, physical inactivity status was negatively associated with patient-reported outcomes in these individuals in the absence of an RHI history.