A major new study has found that concussions in amateur sports are not linked to greater long-term risks of cognitive decline – and that playing sports may have a “protective” effect on the brain.
The surprise results – published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry – were based on the analysis of lifetime concussion history of more than 15,000 participants between the ages of 50 and 90, making it the largest study of its kind.
Researchers from the University of Exeter, UNSW Sydney, the University of Oxford and Harvard University also found that people who reported sports-related concussions actually had slightly better cognitive performance than those who did not report any concussions.
One of the paper’s authors, Prof Vanessa Raymont from the University of Oxford, said the findings could have policy implications for contact sports.
“This study suggests that there may be long-term benefits of sport that may outweigh any negative effects of concussion, which may have important implications for policy decisions about contact sport participation,” she said. “It may also be that non-sports-related head injuries lead to greater brain damage than sports-related concussions.”
However, the authors emphasized that their findings did not apply to concussions in professional sports, which “tend to be more frequent, debilitating and severe”.
Of the 15,214 participants in the study, 39.5% reported at least one concussion and 3.2% at least one moderate-severe concussion. Researchers then compared cognitive function among individuals with zero, one, two, and three or more sports-related concussions (SRCS) to those with none, one, two, and three or more non-sports-related concussions from falls, car accidents, assaults, and other causes. The SR group demonstrated a 4.5 percentile rank better working memory than those who did not experience a SR, as well as a 7.9% better reasoning ability than those without a concussion.
The results were broadly welcomed by Professor John Fairclough of Progressive Rugby. “This retrospective study supports the claim that compared to the elite game, the community game is relatively safe, and concussion and long-term neurological risks are largely outweighed by the physical, mental and social benefits enjoyed,” he said.
“All contact sports carry a risk, but with continued steps to educate, reduce risk and ensure concussion protocols are strictly adhered to, we have always maintained that the community game can become even safer and more sustainable.”
However, Fairclough warned there were still “legitimate concerns about children participating in contact sports” and said more studies were needed “to determine the risk of youth being exposed to contact sports while their brains are undergoing key periods of development”.
to newsletter promotion
He said: “It is also important to note that this study was not designed to and does not address the risk to professional players who are subject to a far greater number and frequency of impacts to which degenerative brain diseases including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) subject, cannot be determined.”
Luke Griggs, the chief executive of brain injury charity Headway, was more cautious in his response. “This study supports some established principles regarding concussion,” he said. “For example, we know that the majority of single-incident concussions will have no lasting effect on individuals.
“However, we must be careful to ensure that this data is not misinterpreted. There is a fundamental risk associated with any inference that sports and cardiovascular exercise can eliminate the impact of concussion.”
