Parkinsonism and Parkinson's disease (PD) have been described as consequences of repetitive head impacts (RHI) from boxing, since 1928. Autopsy studies have shown that RHI from other contact sports can also increase risk for neurodegenerative diseases, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and Lewy bodies. In vivo research on the relationship between American football play and PD is scarce, with small samples, and equivocal findings. This study leveraged the Fox Insight study to evaluate the association between American football and parkinsonism and/or PD Diagnosis and related clinical outcomes.

Fox Insight is an online study of people with and without PD who are 18+ years (>50,000 enrolled). Participants complete online questionnaires on motor function, cognitive function, and general health behaviors. Participants self-reported whether they "currently have a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, or parkinsonism, by a physician or other health care professional." In November 2020, the Boston University Head Impact Exposure Assessment was launched in Fox Insight for large-scale data collection on exposure to RHI from contact sports and other sources. Data used in this abstract were obtained from the Fox Insight database https://foxinsight-info.michaeljfox.org/insight/explore/insight.jsp on 01/06/2022. The sample includes 2018 men who endorsed playing an organized sport. Because only 1.6% of football players were women, analyses are limited to men. Responses to questions regarding history of participation in organized football were examined. Other contact and/or non-contact sports served as the referent group. Outcomes included PD status (absence/presence of parkinsonism or PD) and Penn Parkinson's Daily Activities Questionnaire-15 (PDAQ-15) for assessment of cognitive symptoms. Binary logistic regression tested associations between history and years of football play with PD status, controlling for age, education, current heart disease or diabetes, and family history of PD. Linear regressions, controlling for these variables, were used for the PDAQ-15.

Of the 2018 men (mean age=67.67, SD=9.84; 10, 0.5% Black), 788 (39%) played football (mean years of play=4.29, SD=2.88), including 122 (16.3%) who played youth football, 494 (66.0%) played high school, 128 (17.1%) played college football, and 5 (0.7%) played at the semi-professional or professional level. 1738 (86.1%) reported being diagnosed with parkinsonism/PD, and 707 of these were football players (40.7%). History of playing any level of football was associated with increased odds of having a reported parkinsonism or PD diagnosis (OR=1.52, 95% CI=1.14-2.03, p=0.004). The OR remained similar among those age <69 (sample median age) (OR=1.45, 95% CI=0.97-2.17, p=0.07) and 69+ (OR=1.45, 95% CI=0.95-2.22, p=0.09). Among the football players, there was not a significant association between years of play and PD status (OR=1.09, 95% CI=1.00-1.20, p=0.063). History of football play was not associated with PDAQ-15 scores (n=1980) (beta=-0.78, 95% CI=-1.59-0.03, p=0.059) among the entire sample.

Among 2018 men from a data set enriched for PD, playing organized football was associated with increased odds of having a reported parkinsonism/PD diagnosis. Next steps include examination of the contribution of traumatic brain injury and other sources of RHI (e.g., soccer, military service).

White matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden is greater, has a frontal-temporal distribution, and is associated with proxies of exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI) in former American football players. These findings suggest that in the context of RHI, WMH might have unique etiologies that extend beyond those of vascular risk factors and normal aging processes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlates of WMH in former elite American football players. We examined markers of amyloid, tau, neurodegeneration, inflammation, axonal injury, and vascular health and their relationships to WMH. A group of age-matched asymptomatic men without a history of RHI was included to determine the specificity of the relationships observed in the former football players.

240 male participants aged 45-74 (60 unexposed asymptomatic men, 60 male former college football players, 120 male former professional football players) underwent semi-structured clinical interviews, magnetic resonance imaging (structural T1, T2 FLAIR, and diffusion tensor imaging), and lumbar puncture to collect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers as part of the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project. Total WMH lesion volumes (TLV) were estimated using the Lesion Prediction Algorithm from the Lesion Segmentation Toolbox. Structural equation modeling, using Full-Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) to account for missing values, examined the associations between log-TLV and the following variables: total cortical thickness, whole-brain average fractional anisotropy (FA), CSF amyloid ß42, CSF p-tau181, CSF sTREM2 (a marker of microglial activation), CSF neurofilament light (NfL), and the modified Framingham stroke risk profile (rFSRP). Covariates included age, race, education, APOE z4 carrier status, and evaluation site. Bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals assessed statistical significance. Models were performed separately for football players (college and professional players pooled; n=180) and the unexposed men (n=60). Due to differences in sample size, estimates were compared and were considered different if the percent change in the estimates exceeded 10%.

In the former football players (mean age=57.2, 34% Black, 29% APOE e4 carrier), reduced cortical thickness (B=-0.25, 95% CI [0.45, -0.08]), lower average FA (B=-0.27, 95% CI [-0.41, -.12]), higher p-tau181 (B=0.17, 95% CI [0.02, 0.43]), and higher rFSRP score (B=0.27, 95% CI [0.08, 0.42]) were associated with greater log-TLV. Compared to the unexposed men, substantial differences in estimates were observed for rFSRP (Bcontrol=0.02, Bfootball=0.27, 994% difference), average FA (Bcontrol=-0.03, Bfootball=-0.27, 802% difference), and p-tau181 (Bcontrol=-0.31, Bfootball=0.17, -155% difference). In the former football players, rFSRP showed a stronger positive association and average FA showed a stronger negative association with WMH compared to unexposed men. The effect of WMH on cortical thickness was similar between the two groups (Bcontrol=-0.27, Bfootball=-0.25, 7% difference).

These results suggest that the risk factor and biological correlates of WMH differ between former American football players and asymptomatic individuals unexposed to RHI. In addition to vascular risk factors, white matter integrity on DTI showed a stronger relationship with WMH burden in the former football players. FLAIR WMH serves as a promising measure to further investigate the late multifactorial pathologies of RHI.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is worn by prehospital providers (PHPs) for protection from hazardous exposures. Evidence regarding the ability of PHPs to perform resuscitation procedures has been described in adult but not pediatric models. This study examined the effects of PPE on the ability of PHPs to perform resuscitation procedures on pediatric patients.

This prospective study was conducted at a US simulation center. Paramedics wore normal attire at the baseline session and donned full Level B PPE for the second session. During each session, they performed timed sets of psychomotor tasks simulating clinical care of a critically ill pediatric patient. The difference in time to completion between baseline and PPE sessions per task was examined using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.

A total of 50 paramedics completed both sessions. Median times for task completion at the PPE sessions increased significantly from baseline for several procedures: tracheal intubation (+4.5 s; P = 0.01), automated external defibrillator (AED) placement (+9.5 s; P = 0.01), intraosseous line insertion (+7 s; P < 0.0001), tourniquet (+8.5 s; P < 0.0001), intramuscular injection (+21-23 s, P < 0.0001), and pulse oximetry (+4 s; P < 0.0001). There was no significant increase in completion time for bag-mask ventilation or autoinjector use.

PPE did not have a significant impact on PHPs performing critical tasks while caring for a pediatric patient with a highly infectious or chemical exposure. This information may guide PHPs faced with the situation of resuscitating children while wearing Level B PPE.

To date, no treatment outcome study for anxiety disordered youth was able to follow a control group for the long term.

To examine Long term outcome of anxiety disordered children who were treated with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as opposed to comparable children who were not.

Subjects (N = 120) who were 8–12 years old at the time of initial assessment at an academic facility, were followed 8.2 (SD 1.5) years later. Children were equally divided between two groups, those treated with CBT and those who were not. A prospective “ex post facto” cohort design was used to compare the two groups. Psychiatric diagnoses were ascertained using the ADIS semi-structured interview. Primary outcome measure: Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). Other measures were used to evaluate depression, functioning, global improvement, well-being, self-efficacy and self esteem.

The treatment group did not differ demographically from the non-treatment group. No significant difference was found between groups at base-line in measures of anxiety and depression and at Long Term Follow-Up (LTFU) in measures of anxiety, depression, functioning, global improvement, well-being, self-efficacy and self esteem by both child and parent report. A significant pre-post improvement was found in measures of anxiety, depression and level of functioning in both groups.

Anxious children improve over time in functioning and measures of anxiety and depression. No difference was found between those treated with CBT and those who were not at LTFU. Further studies are needed to elucidate the association between treatment and long term gain.

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often presents as an impairing lifelong condition in adults, yet it is currently under-diagnosed and under-treated in many European countries.

To establish the characteristics of the European (EU) adult ADHD patient relative to adult patients outside the EU (OEU).

To compare the baseline characteristics of patients with ADHD in regions where adult ADHD is relatively well established (e.g., USA), with EU adult ADHD patients.

Baseline data was used from the open-label acute treatment period of a multicenter, randomized, withdrawal trial of atomoxetine in adult patients with ADHD (N = 2017; EU, n = 1217; OEU, n = 800). All enrolled patients were included in the baseline analyses.

The demographics for patients in the EU region and regions OEU were comparable. Patients in the EU region had a somewhat lower percentage of prior exposure to psychostimulants compared to the region OEU (32.7% versus 38.9%, p = .005). Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale-Investigator Rated: Screening Version with adult ADHD prompts (18 item total, inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive subscales, and index) were comparable. The adult ADHD Quality of Life life outlook and life productivity domain scores were different between groups (p ≤ .0004). The EuroQol-5 Dimension UK and US population-based Index score, and health state score were comparable between groups.

There were some subtle differences between study groups; however, overall, the adult ADHD patients were not substantially different between the EU region and regions OEU, suggesting that baseline features of ADHD in adult EU patients manifest comparable to those in patients OEU.

In March 2017, the New Jersey Department of Health received reports of 3 patients who developed septic arthritis after receiving intra-articular injections for osteoarthritis knee pain at the same private outpatient facility in New Jersey. The risk of septic arthritis resulting from intra-articular injection is low. However, outbreaks of septic arthritis associated with unsafe injection practices in outpatient settings have been reported.

An infection prevention assessment of the implicated facility’s practices was conducted because of the ongoing risk to public health. The assessment included an environmental inspection of the facility, staff interviews, infection prevention practice observations, and a medical record and office document review. A call for cases was disseminated to healthcare providers in New Jersey to identify patients treated at the facility who developed septic arthritis after receiving intra-articular injections.

We identified 41 patients with septic arthritis associated with intra-articular injections. Cultures of synovial fluid or tissue from 15 of these 41 case patients (37%) recovered bacteria consistent with oral flora. The infection prevention assessment of facility practices identified multiple breaches of recommended infection prevention practices, including inadequate hand hygiene, unsafe injection practices, and poor cleaning and disinfection practices. No additional cases were identified after infection prevention recommendations were implemented by the facility.

Aseptic technique is imperative when handling, preparing, and administering injectable medications to prevent microbial contamination.

This investigation highlights the importance of adhering to infection prevention recommendations. All healthcare personnel who prepare, handle, and administer injectable medications should be trained in infection prevention and safe injection practices.