CLEAATS has already exceeded its original goal of surveying 500 former college athletes in both contact and non-contact sports.
The O'Donnell Brain Institute at the University of Texas Southwestern is conducting a study focusing on former college athletes over the age of 50 who did not play professional sports.
Dr. Jeff Schafert is a professor at UT Southwestern and co-principal investigator of CLEAATS.
“We focus on all sports, not just former soccer players,” he said. “Both men and women.”
To date, CLEAATS has surveyed 634 participants.
“The male-to-female ratio is about 55% to 45%,” Dr. Schaffert said. “So we actually have quite a lot of female athletes participating.”
Back in 2022, the Darrell K Royal Research Fund provided a $500,000 grant to support this research.
Currently, CLEAATS requires non-athletes over the age of 50 to serve as the control group for this study.
“We answer the exact same questions that athletes answer,” said Debbie Hanna, president of the DKR Research Foundation. “We are measured the exact same way and baselined the same way.”
Initial results from this study indicate that a quarter of former female athletes surveyed reported some level of concern about cognitive problems and CTE (brain damage that can result from repeated head trauma) later in life. It shows that it is expressed.
Early data also shows that the majority of participants currently report good cognitive and mental health.
“This is important information for athletes themselves as they age,” Hanna says. “Men and women decide whether or not to let their children play sports.”
CLEAATS is a longitudinal study, meaning researchers like Dr. Schaffert will likely examine this data for years to come.
“We're really going to need more participation,” he concluded. “Trying to really understand these complex relationships.”
The survey involves a 30-minute online survey followed by a short telephone survey.
Those who participate in the study will be compensated $50.
Click this link to enroll in the study.
