Effects of repetitive subconcussive head trauma on the neuropsychological functioning and symptom reporting of high school athletes in high and low contact sports: Age and sex.

Objective: The present study was designed to assess the neuropsychological test performances of non-concussed female and male high school athletes of different ages in high and low contact sports.

Method: Large samples of 2,510 high school athletes in High Contact sports (e.g., football) and 1,437 in Low Contact sports (e.g., basketball) were examined. The participants were administered a baseline Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) prior to their respective seasons.

Results: Multivariate linear regression showed that the High Contact athletes had significantly poorer results than the Low Contact athletes in all four ImPACT Composite scores and the Total Symptom scores. No age differences were found, but in all three age groups, the High Contact athletes had lower Visual Motor Speed scores than the Low Contact athletes. No test score differences were noted between the females in the High and Low Contact groups, but the High Contact males had poorer Visual Motor Speed and Reaction Time than the Low Contact males.

Conclusions: The present results were consistent with prior studies of subconcussive head trauma, with High Contact athletes obtaining overall poorer neuropsychological test results than Low Contact athletes. More investigations in this age group seems is warranted.