Evaluation of Executive Function and Mental Health in Retired Contact Sport Athletes.
Barry S Willer, Michael R Tiso, Mohammad N Haider and 4 others
PMID 30080797WHAT IT FOUND
Objective testing showed no executive-function difference between retired contact-sport athletes and non-contact athletes.
Contact athletes rated themselves worse on working memory and initiation, and reported more anxiety symptoms.
Key findings
01Objective executive-function testing showed no significant difference between retired contact-sport athletes and non-contact athletes.
02Contact-sport athletes rated themselves worse on working memory and initiation, but informant reports showed no significant group difference.
03Contact-sport athletes had higher raw depression and anxiety scores, but only clinical anxiety reached significance by the study cutoffs.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 21 athletes in each group, so it cannot show what happens in all retired contact-sport athletes. The researchers did not formally assess effort during testing, so valid and poor performance cannot be fully separated. The controls were active non-contact athletes, not a general population, so the comparison may make the contact group look better. Athletes who volunteered were worried about their mental health, which may have selected for more anxiety and more self-reported problems.
Declared interests
Publication types indicate NIH and non-U.S. government research support. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that retired contact-sport athletes have executive-function impairment. The objective tests showed no group difference, and informant reports did not support the self-report differences.