ArticleJRSM open2021
The neurological risks of playing association football.
Article in JRSM open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Implementing exposure limits for players in contact team sports: review of principles and practices.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Review
- Decreased Brain Ventricular Volume in Psychiatric Inpatients with Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Treatment.Chronic stress (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsThe present study aims to provide a narrative review of the literature surrounding concussion and head injury in football and its clarity in evaluating the risk of long-term neurological disease.
findingsEpidemiological studies have shown correlations between participation in professional football and increased incidence of neurodegenerative disease and there have been reports of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the brains of former players in autopsy. These findings have been assumed by some to be the result of repetitive brain injury from head injuries and/or from heading the ball over a player's career. Data linking increased heading exposure with dementia is conflicting, and studies are limited by the reliance on retrospection and undocumented reports of concussion. It remains unclear whether CTE is unique to sportsmen or a variant of dementia pathology endemic in the population.
conclusionsAlthough logically appealing, there is no current evidence that heading is the cause of neurodegeneration amongst footballers and risks should be balanced by the protective mental and physical benefits of the sport. Physicians have an important role in providing balanced views in this emotive and controversial area.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.