Examining Concussion History And Other Risk Factors That Affect Hypertension In High School Football Athletes

Recent studies show that former professional football players have an increased mid-life risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), including hypertension, related to their prior concussion exposure during adolescence. Adolescent football players at high risk of concussion are exposed to biological and psychological risk factors that heighten their risks for hypertension, which in turn increase the likelihood of heart disease and stroke in adulthood. PURPOSE: To identify the relationship between prior concussion history, post-concussion symptoms, health-related anthropometric factors, and hypertension in adolescent football athletes. METHODS: Data were drawn from a prospective cohort study of 260 adolescent football athletes (mean age = 15.6 ± 1.15 years) in Alabama secondary schools. Baseline independent variables include concussion history (yes/no), post-concussion symptom scale (PCSS) severity (0-132, summed from 22 items), location of the school (urban/rural), and anthropometric measures (waist circumference [WC], lean body mass [LBM]). The dependent variable is hypertension, defined as a binary-coded variable (1 = hypertension: SBP ≥ 130 mmHg, DBP ≥ 80 mmHg; 0 = normal), based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. A logistic regression model for hypertension was conducted with complete outcome cases (n = 189). RESULTS: A total of 38% of individuals (n = 72) had hypertension in this cohort. Logistic regression analysis showed that WC is significantly and positively associated with hypertension (AOR = 1.04, p < 0.05). However, concussion history (AOR = 1.13), PCSS severity (AOR = 1.02), LBM (AOR = 1.01), and location of school (AOR = 1.04) were not significantly associated with hypertension (all ps > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Waist circumference exhibits an association with hypertension among various factors, indicating that concussion burden may not have a substantial impact on blood pressure during adolescence. The results suggest that while risk factors noted in former professional football athletes may not strongly impact current blood pressure in adolescence, they could raise concerns for increased CVD risk as these athletes move through the lifespan.