Multiple Concussions and Neuropsychological Functioning in Collegiate Football Players.
OBJECTIVE: To document neurocognitive and neurobehavioral consequences of 1 versus 2 concussions. DESIGN AND SETTING: Nonequivalent, pretest-posttest cohort design with multiple dependent measures. Participants were selected from a large sample of athletes who participated in a comprehensive, multiuniversity study of football-related concussion. SUBJECTS: College football players who sustained 1 and 2 grade 1 concussive injuries were matched for age, education, and duration of competitive football. MEASUREMENTS: Neuropsychological tests and symptoms checklists. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis of variance did not show a statistically significant difference in test performance between players with 1 or 2 concussions. Chi square analyses revealed that concussions significantly increased the number of symptom complaints, but symptoms returned to baseline by 10 days postinjury. The effects of 2 injuries did not appear to be significantly greater than that of a single injury. Differences in response to concussion were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Neurocognitive and neurobehavioral consequences of 2 concussions did not appear to be significantly different from those of 1 concussion, but methodologic issues place limitations on data interpretation. Additional studies are needed to clarify the neuropsychological consequences of multiple concussions.
Macciocchi
Stephen N.
SN
Shepherd Center and Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
Barth
Jeffrey T.
JT
Littlefield
Lauren
L
Cantu
Robert C.
RC