Concern About Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in Former Collegiate Athletes

Purpose Concern for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) among former professional American-style football players appears widespread (89%). However, prevalence and factors related to CTE concern in other former athlete populations (amateur, female, non-contact) are unknown. We explored the frequency of CTE concern, and factors possibly relating to presence of a concern (gender, concussion history, sport-type) in aging former collegiate athletes. Method 748 former collegiate athletes aged 50-85 (M=60.7 years) completed surveys about concussion history, sports-participation, and concern about CTE for the College Level Aging Athlete Study (CLEAATS). Participants indicated CTE concern by responding “Yes/No” to whether they are concerned about their concussions leading to CTE. Participants were grouped by gender (male/female), number of diagnosed concussions (≤2/>2), and sport-type (contact/non-contact). Binomial logistic regression and Chi-square tests of independence (χ2) explored associations between these variables and CTE concern. Results 355 participants (47.5%) reported CTE concern. Chi-square analyses revealed CTE concern was endorsed significantly more by males than females (60.8%;31.2%), by participants with >2 concussions compared to ≤2 (73.0%;43.0%), and by participants with contact sports-participation compared to non-contact (68.2%;28.0%). The regression model was significant (χ2(3)=160.07, p<.001), and all individual factors (>2 concussions, male gender, contact sports-participation) significantly predicted CTE concern, with contact sports-participation as the strongest predictor and male gender the weakest. Conclusions Concern for CTE was common among former collegiate athletes, but less pervasive than among former professional American-style football players. Several factors (contact sports-participation, multiple diagnosed concussions, male) were associated with more concern. Future research on former athletes’ understanding and perception of CTE is warranted.