• John G Baker, John J Leddy, Andrea L Hinds, Mohammad N Haider, Jennifer Shucard, Tania Sharma, Sergio Hernandez, Joel Durinka, Robert Zivadinov, and Barry S Willer.
• UBMD Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine (Drs Baker, Leddy, Haider, Shucard and Sharma), Department of Nuclear Medicine (Dr Baker), Department of Psychiatry (Drs Hinds, Hernandez, and Willer), Department of Neurology (Dr Zivadinov), and Department of Internal Medicine (Dr Durinka), School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo.
• J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2018 Sep 1; 33 (5): E16-E23.

ObjectiveTo test the hypothesis that mild cognitive impairment (MCI) rates are higher among retired professional contact sport athletes than in noncontact athlete controls and compare history of contact sports with other MCI risk factors.SettingUniversity Concussion Management Clinic.ParticipantsTwenty-one retired National Football League and National Hockey League players and 21 aged-matched noncontact athlete controls.DesignsCase-control.Main MeasuresComprehensive criteria were used to assess MCI based on the following: Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System; Trail Making Parts A and B; Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition subtests; Neuropsychological Assessment Battery Memory Module List Learning, Story Learning, and Naming subtests; and Controlled Oral Word Association Test. The Wide Range Achievement Test was used as a proxy measure for IQ. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk factors were self-reported and blood cholesterol was measured. Depression was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI).ResultsEight contact sport athletes (38%) and 3 noncontact athletes (14%) met MCI criteria (P = .083). Contact sport athletes' scores were significantly worse on Letter Fluency and List B Immediate Recall. Contact athletes were more obese, had more vascular risk factors, and had higher scores on the BDI than controls.ConclusionAthletes with a history of playing professional contact sports had more vascular risk factors and higher depression scores. MCI rates were somewhat higher, though not significant.

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