BOSTON (AP) – The more hits to the head an amateur football player takes, the greater his risk of developing depression, difficulty making decisions and other forms of cognitive impairment as an adult, a preliminary study suggests.
The study by Boston University researchers published in the Journal of Neurotrauma on Thursday is the first of its kind to look at the connection between the cumulative number of impacts sustained from youth football through college and later-in-life mental difficulties, according to Dr. Robert Stern, one of the co-authors.
Stern, of the BU School of Medicine, said the study is “an important first step” to guide future research, but cautioned that it should not be used to influence parenting or policy decisions.
“This is not meant to be: ‘If you get hit a certain number of times, you will have problems.’ That’s not how this can be interpreted,” he said. “It is important in that it starts to answer some questions. But by no means is it a definitive study. … It is very preliminary.”
The study looked at 93 former amateur football players and, based on their positions and years of experience, calculated how many head hits they likely sustained over their careers. It found that – once a threshold is reached – the risk of later-life cognitive, mood and behavioral impairment increases as the hit count increases.