Реферат: Injuries In Sports Essay Research Paper Relationship

Although survey data have shown that a prior history of head injury

increases the risk for sustaining subsequent MTBI,8 other potential

risk factors associated with sports-related concussion have not been

identified. Learning disability (LD), the etiology of which is presumably

secondary to central nervous system dysfunction,9 refers to a

heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by difficulties in the

acquisition and use of listening, speaking, writing, reading, reasoning,

or mathematical abilities and which is traditionally diagnosed in early

childhood.10, 11 The incidence of diagnosed LD is 11.8% in the

general university population.12 However, no study to date has

addressed whether LD may represent a risk factor (such as that seen

with prior head injury) for poor outcome following sports-related MTBI

in college athletes.

Previous research has outlined the reliability, validity, and sensitivity

of neuropsychological tests in assessing the specific cognitive areas

associated with MTBI in the general population.13-15 To date, 3

published studies have examined the use of neuropsychological

testing in US football players.16-18 The only multicenter study16 was

conducted in the mid-1980s and was designed to address the acute

effects of concussion.

The current study was designed to address 2 issues: first, to

investigate whether a relationship exists between prior concussion

and diagnosed LD among college football players and determine the

influence of these variables, in isolation and combination, on baseline

neuropsychological performance; and second, to evaluate the use of a

neuropsychological test battery in diagnosing concussion and

delineating recovery of cognitive function following MTBI in athletes.

METHODS

Subjects