Age of First Exposure to Football Is Not Associated with Midlife Brain Health Problems

The purpose of this study was to determine if earlier age of first exposure (AFE) to football is associated with worse brain health in middle-aged men who played high school football. We assessed 123 men 35-55 years of age, who played high school football, using (1) a survey of demographic information as well as medical, sport participation, and concussion history; (2) the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8); and (3) the British Columbia Post-Concussion Symptom Inventory (BC-PSI). Sixty-two (50.4%) men reported football participation starting before the age of 12 (i.e., AFE <12 years) and 61 (49.6%) reported football participation at or after the age of 12 (AFE > 12 years). Compared with those with AFE >12 years, a similar proportion of former high school football players who began playing tackle football before age 12 reported that they had been prescribed medications for mental health problems or that they had recently experienced symptoms of anxiety, depression, memory loss, chronic pain, or headaches. Moreover, there was no significant difference in their lifetime history of treatment by a mental health professional. The groups did not differ significantly on PHQ-8 (U = 1839.0, p = 0.791) or BC-PSI total scores (U = 1828.5, p = 0.751). These findings suggest that earlier AFE to football is not associated with worse brain health in middle-aged men in this sample who played high school football.