Health Outcomes Following A Collegiate Football Career: Findings From The NCAA-DoD CARE Consortium

PURPOSE: American football is a popular National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) contact sport resulting in concussion and head impact exposure among athletes. The effect of concussion and head impact exposure across a collegiate career is unknown. Therefore, we examined associations between concussion history and playing position on self-reported health in collegiate football players at the end of their collegiate career. METHODS: NCAA football players (n = 552) and non-contact male athletes (n = 158; e.g., swimmers) enrolled in the Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium completed multiple measures within one year of departing their institution: Neurological Quality of Life - Cognitive Domain (NeuroQoL), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT) Total Symptom Severity, Short Form Survey (SF-12 Mental Composite Score [MCS]), and Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Separate generalized linear models were used to assess outcome scores by football playing position (noncontact male athlete [referent], linemen, quarterback, special teams, tight end/linebacker/halfback, receiver/defensive back) and diagnosed concussion history (noncontact: 0 [referent], 0 [football], 1-2 [football], 3+ [football]). Coefficients with 95% confidence intervals assessed potential associations (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Model output revealed only linemen (i.e., offensive and defensive line) reported 5% lower (clinically worse) scores (0.95; 95% CI: 0.91-0.99, p = .026) than non-contact male athletes on the SWLS. There were no other significant findings for player position or concussion history. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported health outcomes were not significantly different between football players and non-contact male athletes at the end of a collegiate career, though a single difference was reported on life satisfaction among linemen. Further evaluation of health-related outcomes in collegiate football players years following university departure is warranted. Supported by: Supported by the NCAA-DoD (W81XWH-14-2-0151).