Table 1.
Applying the 2021 Consensus Criteria for TES to 157 Current and Former Boxers
| |
Present |
Not present |
Not mentioned, unknown, or presumed not present |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core features | f | % | n | % | f | % |
| Cognitive or memory impairment | 97 | 61.8 | 46 | 29.3 | 14 | 8.9 |
| Executive function impairment | 34 | 21.7 | 33 | 21.0 | 90 | 57.3 |
| Cognitive, memory, or executive function impairment | 99 | 63.1 | 45 | 28.7 | 13 | 8.3 |
| Neurobehavioral dysregulation | 40 | 25.5 | 77 | 49.0 | 40 | 25.5 |
| One or more of the core clinical featuresa | 104 | 66.2 | 44 | 28.0 | 9 | 5.7 |
| Progressive course | 54 | 34.4 | 48 | 30.6 | 55 | 35.0 |
| Diagnosed traumatic encephalopathy syndrome | 47 | 29.9 | 44 | 28.0 | 66 | 42.0 |
| Supportive features | f | % | n | % | f | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Depression |
17 |
10.8 |
52 |
33.1 |
88 |
56.1 |
| Anxiety |
7 |
4.5 |
48 |
30.6 |
102 |
65.0 |
| Apathy |
6 |
3.8 |
46 |
29.3 |
105 |
66.9 |
| Paranoia |
19 |
12.1 |
20 |
12.7 |
118 |
75.2 |
| Suicidality |
1a |
0.6 |
18 |
11.5 |
138 |
87.9 |
| One or more psychiatric features |
35 |
22.3 |
29 |
18.5 |
93 |
59.2 |
| Motor signs (e.g., parkinsonism) |
88 |
56.1 |
48 |
30.6 |
21 |
13.4 |
| Delayed onset of symptoms and problems | 14 | 8.9 | 61 | 38.9 | 82 | 52.2 |
| |
Based on cognitive functioning |
Based on cognitive functioning and physical functioning |
|
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level of functional dependence/dementia | f | % | F | % | ||
| I Independent |
36 |
22.9 |
32 |
20.4 |
— |
— |
| II Subtle/mild functional impairment |
52 |
33.1 |
52 |
33.1 |
— |
— |
| III Mild dementia |
35 |
22.3 |
36 |
22.9 |
— |
— |
| IV Moderate dementia |
32 |
20.4 |
35 |
22.3 |
— |
— |
| V Severe dementia | 2 | 1.3 | 2 | 1.3 | — | — |
| Provisional levels of certainty for CTE-NC | f | % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missing/unclassifiable |
110 |
70.1 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| Suggestive of CTE-NC |
1 |
0.6 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| Possible CTE-NC |
15 |
9.6 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| Probable CTE-NC | 31 | 19.7 | — | — | — | — |
The percentages of the current and former boxers meeting each criterion are depicted; f = frequency, n = sample size, and % = percentage. See the Supplementary Material for details regarding how this information was coded, all the raw data, and a summary for each individual person.
Includes cognitive impairment, memory impairment, executive functioning impairment, and/or neurobehavioral dysregulation. There was one case that tried to commit suicide in his sixties and he was subsequently admitted to a psychiatric hospital.30 Notably, brain tissue from this case was examined by Goldfinger and colleagues,54 decades later, and this case did not have evidence of CTE-NC.24 The provisional levels of certainty refer to drawing inferences about the likelihood of a person having CTE-NC. “Suggestive” is the lowest threshold, with the least certainty, meaning that the TES criteria are met but the person does not meet additional criteria for possible, probable, or definite CTE-NC, whereas definite means there is post-mortem neuropathological evidence of CTE-NC.
TES, traumatic encephalopathy syndrome; CTE-NC, chronic traumatic encephalopathy neuropathological change.