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Open access publications by faculty, postdocs, and graduate students in the Department of Kinesiology & Applied Physiology.
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Browsing Open Access Publications by Author "Anderson, Melissa N."
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Item Collegiate Athletes With Diabetes: Baseline Medical Comorbidities and Preseason Concussion Testing Performance(Journal of Athletic Training, 2024-03-26) Anderson, Melissa N.; Gallo, Caitlin A.; Passalugo, Scott W.; Nimeh, Jake M.; Edgar, Richard; Yengo-Kahn, Aaron M.; Neitz, Kristen; Terry, Douglas P.; Zuckerman, Scott L.; Broglio, Steven P.; McCrea, Michael; McAllister, Thomas; Pasquina, Paul; Buckley, Thomas A.; CARE Consortium InvestigatorsContext People with diabetes mellitus (DM) are at increased risk for adverse health events and complications throughout their lifetime. Whether DM significantly affects collegiate athletes’ concussion baseline testing performance remains unclear. Objectives To (1) describe the prevalence of DM and associated comorbidities and (2) compare concussion baseline testing performance between student-athletes with DM and student-athletes without DM (NoDM). Design Retrospective, cross-sectional study. Setting University. Patients or Other Participants Using the Concussion, Assessment, Research and Education (CARE) Consortium research database, we matched athletes with self-reported DM (N = 229) by institution, sex, age, sport, position, testing year, and concussion history to athletes with NoDM (N = 229; total sample mean age = 19.6 ± 1.4 years, women = 42%). Main Outcome Measure(s) Descriptive statistics and χ2 tests of independence with subsequent odds ratios were calculated. Independent-samples t tests compared baseline symptoms, neurocognitive testing, and balance performance between athletes with DM and athletes with NoDM. Effect sizes were determined for significant group differences. Results At baseline, athletes with DM had higher rates of self-reported pre-existing balance disorders, sleep disorders, seizure disorders, motion sickness, learning disorders, vision and hearing problems, psychiatric disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, nonmigraine headaches, and meningitis than athletes with NoDM (P values < .05). We found balance differences between groups (P = .032, Cohen d = 0.17) such that, on average, athletes with DM had 1 additional error on the Balance Error Scoring System (DM = 13.4 ± 6.5; NoDM = 12.1 ± 5.9). No other comparisons yielded significant results. Conclusions Although athletes with DM had high rates of self-reported balance disorders, sleep disorders, seizures, and meningitis, their baseline neurocognitive testing results were largely identical to those of athletes with NoDM. Our findings suggested that nonclinically meaningful differences were present in concussion baseline balance testing but no significant differences were noted in cognitive testing; however, the effect of DM on concussion recovery remains unknown. Key Points - We observed no clinically meaningful differences in neurocognitive testing and balance performance between groups; athletes with diabetes performed similarly to athletes without diabetes. - Athletes with diabetes had a disproportionally high rate of self-reported neurologic and mental health comorbidities compared with their nondiabetic counterparts.Item Self-Reported Mental Health Measures of Incoming Collegiate Student-Athletes With a History of COVID-19(Journal of Athletic Training, 2023-11-16) Anderson, Melissa N.; Gallo, Caitlin A.; Passalugo, Scott W.; Nimeh, Jake M.; Buckley, Thomas A.Background People with a history of COVID-19 may experience persistent neuropsychological disruptions such as lower satisfaction with life, depression, and anxiety. Although student-athletes are at low risk for severe COVID-19 complications, the effect of COVID-19 on mental health has not been elucidated. Objective To compare patient-reported mental health outcomes for incoming collegiate athletes with (COVID+) or without (COVID−) a history of COVID-19. Design Case-control study. Setting Laboratory. Patients or Other Participants A total of 178 student-athletes, consisting of 79 in the COVID+ group (44.3%; age = 18.90 ± 0.16 years) and 99 in the COVID− group (55.6%; age = 18.95 ± 0.16 years). Main Outcome Measure(s) Participants completed the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Unadjusted 1-way analyses of variance were conducted across all patient-reported outcomes. Analyses of covariance were calculated to determine the interaction of COVID-19 group, sex, and race and ethnicity on outcomes. Post hoc Bonferroni testing was performed to identify specific differences between groups. A χ2 analysis was computed to compare the number of athletes in each group who met the standard clinical cut points. Results We observed a between-groups difference for HADS depression (P = .047), whereby athletes in the COVID+ group had higher ratings (2.86 ± 0.26). We found group differences for the SWLS (P = .02), HADS anxiety (P = .003), and STAI state anxiety (P = .01) such that all scores were higher for the COVID+ group in the adjusted model. Post hoc testing revealed that female student-athletes in the COVID+ group had worse HADS anxiety (P = .01) and STAI trait anxiety (P = .002) scores than individuals in all other groups. We did not demonstrate differences between groups in the percentage of responses below established diagnostic thresholds. Conclusions Incoming collegiate student-athletes who reported a previous COVID-19 diagnosis displayed higher depression scores, suggesting that clinicians may need to provide appropriate identification and referral for mental health conditions. However, we were encouraged that most participants, regardless of a history of COVID-19 diagnosis, had mental health scores that did not exceed established diagnostic threshold values. Key Points - Differences in mental health for student-athletes with and those without a history of COVID-19 were below the established clinical cut points for satisfaction with life, anxiety, and depression. - Female student-athletes reported worse anxiety than male student-athletes, regardless of their COVID-19 history.