Citation

Iverson GL, Gardner AJ. J. Neuropsychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

The Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston (Iverson); Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Spaulding Research Institute, Boston (Iverson); the Sports Concussion Program, MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Boston (Iverson); Home Base, A Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program, Boston (Iverson); the Sports Concussion Program, Hunter New England Local Health District, New South Wales, Australia (Gardner); and the Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia (Gardner).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Neuropsychiatric Association, Publisher American Psychiatric Publishing)

DOI

10.1176/appi.neuropsych.19010021

PMID

31587629

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: In recent years, it has been proposed that depression represents one clinical subtype of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This is the first study to examine the specificity of the research criteria for the clinical diagnosis of CTE in men with depression from the general population.

METHODS: Data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, an in-person survey that examined the prevalence and correlates of mental disorders in the United States, were used for this study. Men diagnosed as having a major depressive episode in the past 30 days were included (N=101; mean age=39.4 years, SD=12.9, range=18-71). They were deemed to meet research criteriafor CTE if they presented with the purported supportive clinical features of CTE (e.g., impulsivity and substance abuse, anxiety, apathy, suicidality, and headache).

RESULTS: Approximately half of the sample (52.5%) met the proposed research criteria for CTE (i.e., traumatic encephalopathy syndrome). If one accepts the delayed-onset criterion as being present, meaning that the men in the sample were presenting with depression years after retirement from sports or the military, then 83.2% of this sample would meet the research criteria for diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS: The clinical problems attributed to CTE, such as depression, suicidality, anxiety, anger control problems, and headaches, co-occurred in this sample of men with depression from the general population-illustrating that these problems are not specific or unique to CTE. More research is needed to determine whether depression is, in fact, a clinical subtype of CTE.

Language: en

Keywords

Athletes; Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy; Concussion; Depression; Suicidal Ideation; Suicide