Heading Frequency and Risk of Cognitive Impairment in Retired Male Professional Soccer Players.

Importance: Although professional soccer players appear to be at higher risk of neurodegenerative disease, the reason remains unknown.

Objective: To examine whether heading frequency is associated with risk of cognitive impairment in retired professional soccer players.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A UK nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted between August 15, 2020, and December 31, 2021, in 459 retired male professional soccer players older than 45 years and registered with the Professional Footballers' Association or a League Club Players' Association.

Cognitive Impairment and Self-Reported Dementia in UK Retired Professional Soccer Players: A Cross Sectional Comparative Study.

Background: Previous studies based on death certificates have found professional soccer players were more likely to die with neurodegenerative diseases, including dementia. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether retired professional male soccer players would perform worse on cognitive tests and be more likely to self-report dementia diagnosis than general population control men.

Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted between August 2020 and October 2021 in the United Kingdom (UK).