PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Concussion history in NCAA athletes yields mixed health outcomes

Findings counter narrative associating concussion with mental health deficits, suggest team environments in contact sports may be somewhat protective

2025-10-03
(Press-News.org) Audio 

 

New research investigating health outcomes in NCAA athletes during their first year after leaving college sports found that some health measures were worse than expected, but others actually improved. 

 

The results varied depending on the athletes' history of contact exposure and the number of years they played their sport.

 

"In athletes that are ending their collegiate careers, those with more concussions reported worse outcomes on certain health measures," said Reid Syrydiuk, first author on the study and a doctoral candidate in kinesiology studying at the University of Michigan Concussion Center. 

 

"Interestingly, those participating in a higher contact sport reported better mental and symptom health scores than those in noncontact sports. Further, those with increased number of years playing their primary sport reported better mental health scores." 

 

The findings counter the narrative associating concussion with mental health deficits, and suggest that the benefits derived from the team environments seen with contact sports may be somewhat protective, he said. 

 

The study, which appears in the journal Brain Injury, is also novel in that it explores a period that hasn't been studied much: the time when students are transitioning out of college sport. The research is funded by the NCAA and the U.S. Department of Defense.

 

Bridging the research gap

 

Most studies on concussions and health fall into one of two categories: acute (hours or days post-injury) or long term (decades into retirement.) This focus leaves a significant gap in understanding the health of athletes as they undergo the massive life change of exiting competitive sport.

 

To that end, researchers analyzed health questionnaires completed within one year of leaving college by 3,663 student-athletes in the NCAA-DoD Concussion Assessment, Research and Education (CARE) Consortium, to assess how concussion history, sport contact exposure and years of participation were associated with their health at the end of their collegiate career, an intermediate time period that has not been studied much. 

 

Athletes completed eight self-reported health questionnaires spanning factors including cognition, mental health, physical health and neurobehavioral health. Key findings:

 

Concussion history: Athletes with three or more concussions across a variety of sports reported increased depressive symptoms and worsened neurobehavioral (e.g., irritability, concentration) symptoms compared to those with no concussions.

Benefits of participation: Athletes reporting more years of participation in their primary sport consistently reported better mental health scores.

Sport type comparison: Athletes in contact sports reported better mental health (specifically lower depression scores) and neurobehavioral symptom scores compared to noncontact athletes.

 

"If I consider why these contact sport athletes report better scores on certain outcomes, I think it could be related to the large-team environments they experience," Syrydiuk said. 

 

The CARE Consortium is a national concussion research network of NCAA athletes and U.S. military service academy cadets across 30 different institutions. Steven Broglio, director of the Michigan Concussion Center and U-M professor of kinesiology, is a principal investigator on the CARE study. 

 

Fostering early intervention 

 

An important practical application is identifying groups that could benefit from early intervention and support as they leave their college athletics, Syrydiuk said.  

"This time period is important because it hasn't typically been used before in this type of sport medicine research," he said. "It both bridges a gap in literature, which is typically studying concussions in the acute and the long term, and it fosters early support for those leaving sport."

 

Practical applications could include increased monitoring, such as follow-up mental health screenings for identified at-risk groups postgraduation or targeted resources, such as offering access to counseling or tailored transition support programs for those with significant concussion history.

 

The change of leaving sport is a critical moment.

 

"For the majority of these collegiate athletes, their competitive careers end with graduation," Syrydiuk said. "That's a very big change in their lives. We don't want to just ignore them after they've left sport.

 

"If we can identify groups that are more at risk as they're leaving sport versus decades after they've retired, we can intervene earlier and hopefully increase the likelihood of improving their self-reported health. By identifying who needs support as they transition out of sport, we have a better chance of preventing their health from worsening over time."

 

Other co-authors are: Adrian Boltz of U-M; Jaroslaw Harezlak, Chengyun Li, Thomas McAllister, Kelly Mosesso, Susan Perkins and Jie Ren of Indiana University; Allyssa Memmini of the University of New Mexico; Paul Pasquina of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; Landon Lempke of Virginia Commonwealth University; and Michael McCrea of the Medical College of Wisconsin.

 

Study: The cumulative effects of a collegiate athletic career on general health measures: findings from the CARE Consortium
 

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Counting plastic reveals hidden waste and sparks action

2025-10-03
Online supermarket shopping is fuelling Britain’s plastic waste crisis because packaging is less visible to consumers, according to new research from the Revolution Plastics Institute at the University of Portsmouth.  The study found that nearly half of UK households underestimate how much plastic they throw away each week, a phenomenon researchers call “plastic blindness”. Those who relied most heavily on online grocery deliveries were especially likely to be shocked by the volume ...

Warming oceans may pose a serious threat to American lobsters

2025-10-03
The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the world’s oceans, raising concerns for its $2 billion-a-year American lobster fishery. Scientists at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS have been studying the impacts of ocean acidification and warming on lobster reproduction, and the results of their most recent research suggest the rising temperatures pose the greatest risk. Utilizing a purpose-built experimental facility designed by Professor Emily Rivest and housed in the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS’ Seawater Research Laboratory, the researchers exposed egg-bearing lobsters from the Gulf of Maine ...

Deaths from drug-induced unintentional injury rise across the US

2025-10-03
Key Takeaways  Death rates from unintentional injury related to drug use rose nearly 60% from 2018 to 2023.    Men are most at risk — for every one woman who dies from a drug-related accident, about two men die.   When drugs are involved in a traumatic injury, there are more difficulties in treating these patients compared with patients whose injuries were not related to drug use.  CHICAGO (October 3, 2025) — An increasing number of people are dying from drug-related accidental injuries. The rate has risen by nearly 60% within the last five years, according to new study findings.   The research will be ...

In car crashes with pedestrians, age and zip code may predict extent of traumatic injuries

2025-10-03
Key Takeaways  While both adults and children are severely injured in pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions, adults often face more serious outcomes than children, according to a national analysis.  In another study, mapping the geographical location of injuries in Colorado revealed areas in Denver County most prone to accidents, which could help researchers target efforts to prevent future crashes.  CHICAGO — Pedestrian-motor vehicle accidents are a common cause of injury ...

AI optimizes evacuation, diagnosis, and treatment of wounded soldiers in Ukraine

2025-10-03
Key Takeaways  In Ukraine, the medical role of AI has evolved from limited use to wide-ranging applications in evacuation, diagnosis, predictive analytics, and treatment of wounded soldiers.  An analysis of 68 wounded soldiers showed that by analyzing data in real time from wearable medical devices, AI enhanced treatment by assisting medical personnel in delivering personalized care based on a soldier’s medical history, condition, and available resources.  The researchers found that AI not only accelerated drug delivery, identified new treatments for injuries, and supported artificial limb ...

Mastectomy linked to worsened sexual health, body image after surgery

2025-10-03
Key Takeaways  Women who undergo a mastectomy for breast cancer may be at higher risk of developing emotional and physical problems after treatment compared with women who undergo procedures that preserve breast tissue, such as a lumpectomy.  Developing a universal screening tool to assess a woman’s readiness for mastectomy from an emotional and psychological perspective would be an important next step to improve long-term outcomes after surgery.  CHICAGO — While mastectomy is often a necessary and life-saving treatment option for many women with breast cancer, the surgery may contribute ...

Drop in credit score after cancer diagnosis linked to increased mortality, study shows

2025-10-03
Key Takeaways  Among 42,451 patients, 8.5% developed financial toxicity (a credit score below 600) after their diagnosis; an additional 3% were already in that category.  Patients whose credit score fell by two tiers within 12 months of diagnosis faced a 29% higher risk of death. Over any six-month period after diagnosis, a one-tier drop increased mortality risk by 12%, and a two-tier drop raised it by 63%, compared with patients whose scores stayed stable.  An increase in credit score was not found ...

Use of weight loss drugs before bariatric surgery has soared in recent years, study finds

2025-10-03
Key Takeaways  Rapid uptake of weight loss drugs before metabolic and bariatric surgery: Between 2020 and 2024, the use of weight loss drugs before surgery rose sixteenfold among metabolic and bariatric surgery patients, highlighting their growing popularity and perceived effectiveness.  Substantial Increase Among Patients Without Diabetes: Use of GLP-1s, a class of drugs used to treat both Type 2 diabetes and weight loss, rose elevenfold in patients without diabetes, reflecting growing weight-focused ...

EMS call times in rural areas take at least 20 minutes longer than national average

2025-10-03
Key Takeaways  Almost 40% of emergency medical services calls in rural areas were for patients facing medically complex injuries compared with 26.4% nationally.  Rural patients were four times more likely to end up at trauma centers designated for less severe injuries and five times more likely to go to critical access hospitals – small, rural hospitals that provide essential care.   Call times for rural patients transported to specialty centers were more than 40 minutes longer compared with ...

Rectal bleeding in young adults linked to 8.5 times higher risk of colorectal cancer

2025-10-03
Key Takeaways  In patients under 50, rectal bleeding was the strongest predictor of colorectal cancer, increasing odds by 8.5 times.   70% of young patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer had no family history of the disease.  88% of young cancer patients underwent a colonoscopy because of symptoms, not routine screening.   CHICAGO — Adults under 50 undergoing colonoscopy were found to have a dramatically higher risk of having colorectal cancer when the procedure was done for rectal bleeding. Researchers found that rectal bleeding increased the odds of a colorectal cancer diagnosis by 8.5 times, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Study finds one-year change on CT scans linked to future outcomes in fibrotic lung disease

Discovery of a novel intracellular trafficking pathway in plant cells

New tool helps forecast volcano slope collapses and tsunamis

Molecular coating cleans up noisy quantum light

From Parkinson's to rare diseases, discovered a key switch for cellular health

Tiny sugars in the brain disrupt emotional circuits, fueling depression

Mini-organs reveal how the cervix defends itself

Africa, climate, and food: How to feed a continent without increasing its carbon footprint

Researchers demonstrates substrate design principles for scalable superconducting quantum materials

How better software choices could cut US health care costs

Concussion history in NCAA athletes yields mixed health outcomes

Counting plastic reveals hidden waste and sparks action

Warming oceans may pose a serious threat to American lobsters

Deaths from drug-induced unintentional injury rise across the US

In car crashes with pedestrians, age and zip code may predict extent of traumatic injuries

AI optimizes evacuation, diagnosis, and treatment of wounded soldiers in Ukraine

Mastectomy linked to worsened sexual health, body image after surgery

Drop in credit score after cancer diagnosis linked to increased mortality, study shows

Use of weight loss drugs before bariatric surgery has soared in recent years, study finds

EMS call times in rural areas take at least 20 minutes longer than national average

Rectal bleeding in young adults linked to 8.5 times higher risk of colorectal cancer

Hospital closures disproportionately affect socioeconomically disadvantaged communities

Global disparities in premature mortality

Keck Medicine of USC expands world-class care in Pasadena

Untreated depression makes surgical outcomes worse in cancer patients

Standardizing frailty indexes to improve preclinical aging research

Hanbat National University researchers present new technique to boost solid oxide fuel cell performance

Even short school breaks affect student learning unevenly across socioeconomic backgrounds

When words matter: Language and culture shape early childhood outcomes

UBC enzyme technology clears first human test toward universal donor organs for transplantation

[Press-News.org] Concussion history in NCAA athletes yields mixed health outcomes
Findings counter narrative associating concussion with mental health deficits, suggest team environments in contact sports may be somewhat protective