Pituitary Dysfunction Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Female Athletes: Neuropsychological and Psychological Findings

Background Pituitary dysfunction (PD) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can affect neuropsychological and psychological functioning.Objective The aim of the study was to report neuropsychological and psychological outcomes in female athletes with PD following mTBI. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first study to report these findings in an all-female population.Materials and methods Female athletes (n = 508) participated by answering online questionnaires regarding mTBI history and mental health. Women reporting one or more mTBI (n = 308) were invited to participate in neuropsychological tests with 166 (53.8%) accepting. Of these 166 women, 151 (90.9%) accepted further participation in a medical interview and 133 (88.1%) of them participated in pituitary hormone screening blood tests (SBT). If SBT were repeatedly outside the reference value, detailed endocrinological tests were performed.Results Sixteen women (12.2%) were diagnosed with PD (hypopituitarism n = 6, hyperprolactinemia n = 10) after mTBI. Women with PD had a significantly higher mean Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) error score than women with normal pituitary function (nPF) (16.7 and 12.8 respectively; p = 0.04).Conclusion Sustained attention or inhibitory performance is affected in women with PD compared to women with nPF following mTBI.