Adverse Childhood Experiences increase risk of poor cognition and Dementia: JAMA

In a new study conducted by Andrea L. Roberts and team found that affective childhood experiences (ACEs) may be linked to dementia symptoms in former National Football League (NFL) players. The findings of this study were published in the Journal of American Medical Association.

Childhood adversity, such as neglect, abuse, and other symptoms of family dysfunction, are linked to risk factors for poor cognitive and mental health in adulthood. The extent to which these experiences are connected to adulthood cognition-related quality of life and dementia risk is uncertain. The purpose of this study was to see if there was a link between ten unfavorable childhood events and neuropsychiatric outcomes in former National Football League players.

This cross-sectional study drew on data from the Football Player's Health Study at Harvard University, an ongoing longitudinal cohort study of former NFL players that will run from January 30, 2015, through November 19, 2021. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire was used to assess ten ACEs. The AD8: The Washington University Dementia Screening Test was used to assess dementia symptoms; the short form of the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders was used to assess cognition-related quality of life; the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 was used to assess depression; the Generalized Anxiety Disorder–7 was used to assess anxiety; and the Brief Pain Inventory was used to assess pain intensity and pain interference in daily life.

The findings of this study are as follow:

The analysis comprised 1755 guys who were former professional football players.

Five hundred and twenty players (29.6%) identified as Black, 1160 (66.1%) as White, and 75 (4.3%) as other race or ethnicity.

When compared to players with no ACEs, players with four or more ACEs had a 48% higher chance of a positive dementia screen and a substantially higher risk of every other neuropsychiatric outcome except anxiety.

Further correction for concussions sustained during playing years reduced the significance of many correlations, however some remained significant.

ACEs were also linked to concussion symptoms; players with four or more ACEs had a 60% higher likelihood of being in the top quartile of concussion symptoms than players with no ACEs.

In conclusion, this study's findings imply that ACEs may be a risk factor for a positive dementia screening result, concussion symptoms and poor cognition-related living, in former professional US football players. Furthermore, ACEs may be a predictive predictor of players who are at high risk of concussion. Former athletes and their physicians should consider treating psychological trauma in addition to physical harm in order to enhance neurobehavioral outcomes.

Reference:

Roberts AL, Zafonte R, Chibnik LB, et al. Association of Adverse Childhood Experiences With Poor Neuropsychiatric Health and Dementia Among Former Professional US Football Players. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(3):e223299. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.3299

Keywords: JAMA, National Football League, psychiatry, childhood trauma, dementia, affective childhood experience, neglect, abuse, family, dysfunction, cognition, anxiety, stress, behaviour,