Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 May 16;19(5):e0302463. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302463. eCollection 2024.
Soccer heading is adversely associated with neurocognitive performance, but whether greater neck strength or anthropometrics mitigates these outcomes is controversial. Here, we examine the effect of neck strength or anthropometrics on associations of soccer heading with neurocognitive outcomes in a large cohort of adult amateur players.
380 adult amateur league soccer players underwent standardized measurement of neck strength (forward flexion, extension, left lateral flexion, right lateral flexion) and head/neck anthropometric measures (head circumference, neck length, neck circumference and neck volume). Participants were assessed for heading (HeadCount) and cognitive performance (Cogstate) on up to 7 visits over a period of two years. Principal components analysis (PCA) was performed on 8 neck strength and anthropometric measures. We used generalized estimating equations to test the moderation effect of each of the three PCs on 8 previously identified adverse associations of 2-week and 12-month heading estimates with cognitive performance (psychomotor speed, immediate verbal recall, verbal episodic memory, attention, working memory) and of unintentional head impacts on moderate to severe central nervous system symptoms.
3 principal components (PC's) account for 80% of the variance in the PCA. In men, PC1 represents head/neck anthropometric measures, PC2 represents neck strength measures, and PC3 represents the flexor/extensor (F/E) ratio. In women, PC1 represents neck strength, PC2 represents anthropometrics, and PC3 represents the F/E ratio. Of the 48 moderation effects tested, only one showed statistical significance after Bonferroni correction, which was not robust to extensive sensitivity analyses.
Neither neck strength nor anthropometrics mitigate adverse associations of soccer heading with cognitive performance in adult amateur players.
足球顶球与神经认知表现呈负相关，但更大的颈部力量或人体测量学是否能减轻这些后果仍存在争议。在这里，我们研究了颈部力量或人体测量学对大量成年业余球员足球顶球与神经认知结果之间关联的影响。
380 名成年业余联赛足球运动员接受了颈部力量（前屈、伸展、左测屈、右侧屈）和头部/颈部人体测量学测量（头围、颈长、颈围和颈体积）的标准化测量。参与者在两年的时间内接受了多达 7 次的顶球（HeadCount）和认知表现（Cogstate）评估。对 8 项颈部力量和人体测量学测量值进行主成分分析（PCA）。我们使用广义估计方程来测试每个 3 个主成分对 8 个之前确定的 2 周和 12 个月顶球估计与认知表现（运动速度、即时言语记忆、言语情景记忆、注意力、工作记忆）以及非故意头部撞击与中度至重度中枢神经系统症状之间的不良关联的调节作用。
3 个主成分（PC）占 PCA 方差的 80%。在男性中，PC1 代表头部/颈部人体测量学指标，PC2 代表颈部力量指标，PC3 代表屈肌/伸肌（F/E）比。在女性中，PC1 代表颈部力量，PC2 代表人体测量学，PC3 代表 F/E 比。在测试的 48 个调节效应中，只有一个在 Bonferroni 校正后具有统计学意义，但在广泛的敏感性分析中并不稳健。
在成年业余球员中，颈部力量和人体测量学都不能减轻足球顶球与认知表现之间的不良关联。
