Objective

Concussions are common among youth athletes and could disrupt critical neurodevelopment. This study examined the association between age of first concussion (AFC) and neurocognitive performance, psychological distress, postural stability, and symptoms commonly associated with concussion in healthy collegiate men and women student athletes.

Methods

Participants included 4267 collegiate athletes from various contact, limited-contact, and non-contact sports (1818 women and 2449 men) who completed baseline assessments as part of the Concussion Assessment, Research and Education (CARE) Consortium. Psychological distress was assessed with the Brief Symptom Inventory 18; neurocognitive performance was assessed with the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT); symptoms commonly associated with concussion were assessed with the ImPACT Post-Concussion Symptom Scale; postural stability was assessed with the Balance Error Scoring System. Generalized linear models were used to examine the effects of AFC on clinical outcomes separately in men and women.

Results

Later AFC was associated with lower global (Exp(B) = 0.96, P = 0.001) and somatic (Exp(B) = 0.96, P = 0.002) psychological distress on the Brief Symptom Inventory 18 and faster ImPACT reaction time (B = − 0.003, P = 0.001) in women. AFC was not associated with any clinical outcomes in men.

Conclusion

Younger AFC was associated with some differences in psychological distress and reaction time among women but not men; however, these results are likely not clinically meaningful. Sociodemographic disparities, pre-existing conditions, and sport type may impact clinical and cognitive outcomes in collegiate athletes more than concussion history. Future work should examine the relationship between AFC and lifespan-related outcomes.

中文翻译：

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NCAA 大学生运动员第一次脑震荡的年龄和认知、心理和身体结果

客观的

脑震荡在青年运动员中很常见，可能会破坏关键的神经发育。本研究调查了健康大学生男女学生运动员首次脑震荡 (AFC) 的年龄与神经认知表现、心理困扰、姿势稳定性和通常与脑震荡相关的症状之间的关系。

方法

参与者包括来自各种接触、有限接触和非接触运动的 4267 名大学生运动员（1818 名女性和 2449 名男性），他们作为脑震荡评估、研究和教育 (CARE) 联盟的一部分完成了基线评估。使用简要症状清单 18 评估心理困扰；通过脑震荡后立即评估和认知测试 (ImPACT) 评估神经认知表现；通常与脑震荡相关的症状使用 ImPACT 脑震荡后症状量表进行评估；使用平衡错误评分系统评估姿势稳定性。广义线性模型用于分别检查 AFC 对男性和女性临床结果的影响。

结果

后来 AFC 与简要症状清单 18 上较低的全局（Exp（B）= 0.96，P  = 0.001）和躯体（Exp（B）= 0.96，P  = 0.002）心理困扰和更快的 ImPACT 反应时间（B  = - 0.003，P  = 0.001) 在女性中。AFC 与男性的任何临床结果无关。

结论

较年轻的 AFC 与女性而非男性的心理困扰和反应时间存在一些差异有关；然而，这些结果可能没有临床意义。与脑震荡史相比，社会人口差异、既往病史和运动类型对大学生运动员的临床和认知结果的影响更大。未来的工作应该检查 AFC 与寿命相关结果之间的关系。