Contrasting Characteristics and Outcomes of Sports-Related and Non–Sports-Related Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Michail Ntikas, William Stewart, Magdalena Ietswaart, Angus M. Hunter, Andrew I. R. Maas, David K. Menon, Lindsay Wilson, Cecilia Ackerlund, Krisztina Amrein, Nada Andelic, Lasse Andreassen, Audny Anke, Anna Antoni, Gérard Audibert, Philippe Azouvi, Maria Luisa Azzolini, Ronald Bartels, Pál Barzó, Romuald Beauvais, Ronny Beer, Bo-Michael Bellander, Antonio Belli, Habib Benali, Maurizio Berardino, Luigi Beretta, Morten Blaabjerg, Peter Bragge, Alexandra Brazinova, Vibeke Brinck, Joanne Brooker, Camilla Brorsson, Andras Buki, Monika Bullinger, Manuel Cabeleira, Alessio Caccioppola, Emiliana Calappi, Maria Rosa Calvi, Peter Cameron, Guillermo Carbayo Lozano, Marco Carbonara, Ana M. Castaño-León, Simona Cavallo, Giorgio Chevallard, Arturo Chieregato, Giuseppe Citerio, Hans Clusmann, Mark Steven Coburn, Jonathan Coles, Jamie D. Cooper, Marta Correia, Amra Čović, Nicola Curry, Endre Czeiter, Marek Czosnyka, Claire Dahyot-Fizelier, Paul Dark, Helen Dawes, Véronique De Keyser, Vincent Degos, Francesco Della Corte, Hugo den Boogert, Bart Depreitere, Đula Đilvesi, Abhishek Dixit, Emma Donoghue, Jens Dreier, Guy-Loup Dulière, Ari Ercole, Patrick Esser, Erzsébet Ezer, Martin Fabricius, Valery L. Feigin, Kelly Foks, Shirin Frisvold, Alex Furmanov, Pablo Gagliardo, Damien Galanaud, Dashiell Gantner, Guoyi Gao, Pradeep George, Alexandre Ghuysen, Lelde Giga, Ben Glocker, Jagoš Golubović, Pedro A. Gomez, Johannes Gratz, Benjamin Gravesteijn, Francesca Grossi, Russell L. Gruen, Deepak Gupta, Juanita A. Haagsma, Iain Haitsma, Raimund Helbok, Eirik Helseth, Lindsay Horton, Jilske Huijben, Peter J. Hutchinson, Bram Jacobs, Stefan Jankowski, Mike Jarrett, Ji-yao Jiang, Faye Johnson, Kelly Jones, Mladen Karan, Angelos G. Kolias, Erwin Kompanje, Daniel Kondziella, Evgenios Kornaropoulos, Lars-Owe Koskinen, Noémi Kovács, Ana Kowark, Alfonso Lagares, Linda Lanyon, Steven Laureys, Fiona Lecky, Didier Ledoux, Rolf Lefering, Valerie Legrand, Aurelie Lejeune, Leon Levi, Roger Lightfoot, Hester Lingsma, Marc Maegele, Marek Majdan, Alex Manara, Geoffrey Manley, Hugues Maréchal, Costanza Martino, Julia Mattern, Catherine McMahon, Béla Melegh, Tomas Menovsky, Ana Mikolic, Benoit Misset, Visakh Muraleedharan, Lynnette Murray, Nandesh Nair, Ancuta Negru, David Nelson, Virginia Newcombe, Daan Nieboer, József Nyirádi, Matej Oresic, Fabrizio Ortolano, Olubukola Otesile, Aarno Palotie, Paul M. Parizel, Jean-François Payen, Natascha Perera, Vincent Perlbarg, Paolo Persona, Wilco Peul, Anna Piippo-Karjalainen, Matti Pirinen, Dana Pisica, Horia Ples, Suzanne Polinder, Inigo Pomposo, Jussi P. Posti, Louis Puybasset, Andreea Rădoi, Arminas Ragauskas, Rahul Raj, Malinka Rambadagalla, Isabel Retel Helmrich, Jonathan Rhodes, Sylvia Richardson, Sophie Richter, Samuli Ripatti, Saulius Rocka, Cecilie Roe, Olav Roise, Jonathan Rosand, Jeffrey Rosenfeld, Christina Rosenlund, Guy Rosenthal, Rolf Rossaint, Sandra Rossi, Daniel Rueckert, Martin Rusnák, Juan Sahuquillo, Oliver Sakowitz, Renan Sanchez-Porras, Janos Sandor, Nadine Schäfer, Silke Schmidt, Herbert Schoechl, Guus Schoonman, Rico Frederik Schou, Elisabeth Schwendenwein, Ranjit D. Singh, Charlie Sewalt, Toril Skandsen, Peter Smielewski, Abayomi Sorinola, Emmanuel Stamatakis, Simon Stanworth, Robert Stevens, Ewout W. Steyerberg, Nino Stocchetti, Nina Sundström, Riikka Takala, Viktória Tamás, Tomas Tamosuitis, Mark Steven Taylor, Braden Te Ao, Olli Tenovuo, Alice Theadom, Matt Thomas, Aurore Thibaut, Dick Tibboel, Marjolijn Timmers, Christos Tolias, Tony Trapani, Cristina Maria Tudora, Andreas Unterberg, Peter Vajkoczy, Egils Valeinis, Shirley Vallance, Zoltán Vámos, Mathieu van der Jagt, Joukje van der Naalt, Gregory Van der Steen, Jeroen T.J.M. van Dijck, Inge A. van Erp, Thomas A. van Essen, Wim Van Hecke, Caroline van Heugten, Dominique Van Praag, Ernest van Veen, Roel P.J. van Wijk, Thijs Vande Vyvere, Alessia Vargiolu, Emmanuel Vega, Kimberley Velt, Jan Verheyden, Paul M. Vespa, Anne Vik, Rimantas Vilcinis, Victor Volovici, Nicole von Steinbüchel, Daphne Voormolen, Peter Vulekovic, Kevin K.W. Wang, Daniel Whitehouse, Eveline Wiegers, Guy Williams, Stefan Winzeck, Stefan Wolf, Zhihui Yang, Peter Ylén, Alexander Younsi, Frederick A. Zeiler, Veronika Zelinkova, Agate Ziverte, Tommaso Zoerle
Journal: JAMA Network Open (2024)

Importance Exposure to traumatic brain injury (TBI) has raised widespread concern over participation in sports, particularly over possible long-term consequences. However, little is known about the outcomes of individuals presenting to hospitals with sports-related TBI. Objective To compare the characteristics and outcomes of individuals presenting to hospitals with sports-related and non–sports-related TBI. Design, Setting, and Participants The CENTER-TBI (Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in TBI) observational cohort study was conducted at hospitals in 18 countries. The study enrolled 4509 patients who had TBI and had an indication for computed tomography (CT), of whom 4360 were 16 years or older. Outcomes were assessed at 3 and 6 months, and groups were compared using regression analyses adjusting for clinical and demographic differences. Data were collected between December 9, 2014, and December 17, 2017, and analyzed from August 2022 to March 2023. Exposure Sports-related and non–sports-related TBI with subgroups selected by severity of injury. Main Outcomes and Measures The main outcome was the Glasgow Outcome Scale–Extended (GOSE) at 6 months, with secondary outcomes covering postconcussion symptoms, health-related quality of life, and mental health. Results A total of 4360 patients were studied, including 256 (6%) with sports-related TBI (mean [SD] age, 38.9 [18.1] years; 161 [63%] male) and 4104 with non–sports-related TBI (mean [SD] age, 51.0 [20.2] years; 2773 [68%] male). Compared with patients with non–sports-related TBI, patients with sports-related TBI were younger, more likely to have tertiary education, more likely to be previously healthy, and less likely to have a major extracranial injury. After adjustment, the groups did not differ in incomplete recovery (GOSE scores &amp;amp;lt;8) at 6 months (odds ratio [OR], 1.27; 95% CI, 0.90-1.78; P = .22 for all patients; OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.83-1.73; P = .34 for those with mild TBI; and OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.74-1.92; P = .65 for those with mild TBI and negative CT findings). At 6 months, there was incomplete recovery in 103 of 223 patients (46%) with outcomes in the sports-related TBI group, 65 of 168 (39%) in those with mild sports-related TBI, and 30 of 98 (31%) in those with mild sports-related TBI and negative CT findings. In contrast, at 6 months, the sports-related TBI group had lower prevalence of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and postconcussion symptoms than the non–sports-related group. Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study of 4360 patients with TBI, functional limitations 6 months after injury were common after sports-related TBI, even mild sports-related TBI. Persisting impairment was evident in the sports-related TBI group despite better recovery compared with non–sports-related TBI on measures of mental health and postconcussion symptoms. These findings caution against taking an overoptimistic view of outcomes after sports-related TBI, even if the initial injury appears mild.