Former professional soccer players have high levels of depression and anxiety and struggle with decision-making in mid-life, according to new research.
Study lead author Caleigh Grace Lynch said MRI scans identified differences in brain structure between some former players and a comparison group of healthy people with no history of contact sports or head injuries.
Ms Lynch, who is a research technician at Imperial College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute Centre for Care Research & Technology, said the findings of the first and largest study of its kind in retired professional soccer players, added to a growing body of research exploring how soccer play may influence brain health over time.
“These findings suggest there may be measurable effects on brain health in former elite soccer players even in mid-life, before clinically apparent neurodegenerative disease would typically emerge,” she said.
Ms Lynch said the study included 142 former professional soccer players, aged 30-60, and compared them to a control group of 56 healthy people of the same age who had not played contact sports, served in the military and had no history of repetitive head impacts, concussion or other neurological issues.
“Interim analyses of this dataset revealed that former elite professional soccer players reported significantly higher symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as worse self-rated ability to plan, focus on and solve problems and manage daily tasks, compared to the control group.”
She said nearly one-third of former players (31 percent) scored in the range indicating clinically significant depression symptoms, compared with 9 percent of controls, while 42 percent scored in the range indicating clinically significant anxiety symptoms, compared with 25 percent of controls.
Ms Lynch said brain imaging of 124 former players revealed lower gray matter volume in several brain regions, including frontal, cingulate and thalamic areas that play important roles in memory, attention, decision-making and emotional regulation, compared to controls.
