ArticleSports medicine - open2026
Cognitive and Mental Health in Recently Retired Collegiate Football Players: Findings from the CARE Consortium.
Article in Sports medicine - open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWhile long-term psychosocial health in football players has been extensively studied, little is known about cognitive and mental health during early sport retirement. This study examined the association between football participation factors and self-reported cognitive and mental health among recently retired collegiate players.
methodsParticipants in the Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium (n = 627; mean age = 25.0 ± 1.7) completed surveys across 26 United States universities (2014-2021) within 5 years of collegiate exit. Measures included Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders-Cognitive Domain (Neuro-QoL), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), SF-12 Mental Component Summary (MCS), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Univariate and multivariable regression models evaluated the effects of lifetime concussion history, playing position, and years of football participation on outcome scores. Proportions exceeding clinical score thresholds were also compared across exposure groups.
resultsPer univariate analyses, participants reporting three or more concussions had significantly worse scores across all instruments than those without concussion history, and a higher proportion exceeded clinical thresholds for all measures except life satisfaction. In adjusted models, the 3+ concussion group endorsed higher PHQ-9 scores than the non-concussion group (B: 1.53, SE: 0.52, p = 0.014). An interaction between position and concussion was observed for Neuro-QoL scores, with agility players reporting lower scores than hybrid players in those with 1-2 concussions. DISCUSSION: Greater lifetime concussion history was associated with poorer self-reported psychosocial health among recently retired collegiate football players. Targeted clinical screening and early intervention may benefit those with multiple concussions as they transition to post-athletic careers.
Identifiers
42911304What 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.