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Head in the Game - a study on long-term effects of playing elite football on brain structure and functio

Conditions
brain damage
10029305
Registration Number
NL-OMON46652
Lead Sponsor
Fédération Internationale de Fotoball Association (FIFA)
Brief Summary

Not available

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
Pending
Sex
Not specified
Target Recruitment
80
Inclusion Criteria

two groups of atheltes will be included in this study:;50 football players
- female, aged 30-50 years
- played at least 5 mathces in a first league club team or the national team
- retired from elite football over 2 years ago (no first league or international matches);30 elite athletes from non-contact sports
- age, gender and handedness matched
- former elite athlete (over 5 competitions at national or international level) in a non-contact sport or anthoer sport with a low risk of head injury
- Retired from elite sports over 2 years ago (no competition on national or international level)

Exclusion Criteria

Football players
* Previous non-football-related severe head injury diagnosed or treated by a physician
* Symptomatic mental disorder (e.g. depression or schizophrenia).
* Symptomatic chronic disease (i.e. cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease) except osteoarthrosis/-arthritis and medically controlled hypertension.
* MRI contra-indications (specified below).;Elite athletes
* Previous or current regular participation (* once a week for *1 year) in football, or other sports with high risk of head injury.
* Previous severe head injury diagnosed or treated by a physician.
* Symptomatic mental disorder (e.g. depression, schizophrenia).
* Symptomatic chronic disease (i.e. cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia), except osteoarthrosis/-arthritis and medically controlled hypertension.
* MRI contra-indications (specified below).;MRI Contraindication
* Pregnancy (even though there is no evidence of adverse effects).
* Metal and/or recently implanted joint replacements.
* Implanted electric and electronic devices are a strict contraindication to magnetic resonance imaging, and in particular: heart pacemakers (especially older types), insulin pumps, implanted hearing aids, neuro-stimulators, intracranial metal clips, metallic bodies in the eye.

Study & Design

Study Type
Observational non invasive
Study Design
Not specified
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
<p>* Neurocognitive performance including the following domains: sustained, simple<br /><br>and complex attention, verbal and visual memory, executive function, verbal<br /><br>fluency, visuospatial skills, psychomotor speed, reaction time, reasoning,<br /><br>motor speed, working memory, processing speed and cognitive flexibility<br /><br>* Functional/structural connectivity within the DMN and SN</p><br>
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
<p>* Previous head injuries<br /><br>* Mental and neurologic health, e.g. Depression, ADHD, Anxiety, Migraine<br /><br>* QOL<br /><br>* Personal and sports career related variables, e.g. age, heading frequency,<br /><br>career length, playing position</p><br>
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