American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
For Immediate Release May 01, 2003

OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS:  According to Dr. James Moriarity, collegiate amateur boxers did not show mental-status changes after competing in closely supervised bouts during a 7-day tournament. This study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine in San Diego.

Although previous studies have suggested that long-term mental-status changes in professional boxers can occur, this report demonstrated no short-term effects on the participants enrolled in the study. Eighty-two collegiate, amateur boxers were analyzed at baseline and after 142 competitions with a computerized-battery of tests designed to look at reaction times, information processing, decision making, memory and other neuropsychological measures.

No significant changes from pre-tournament baseline performance were observed in any individual boxer, including those participants receiving standing eight counts or those stopped by an official from further participation.

This research reveals that amateur boxing, when conducted as part of a supervised competition does not result in acute cognitive impairment, even in boxers subjected to repeated bouts over a short time frame. Dr. Moriarity is the Second Vice President of AMSSM and is a team physician for the University of Notre Dame.

The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) was organized in 1991 by a group of physicians who recognized the need for an organization within the field of sports medicine that approached athletes, exercising individuals, and teams comprehensively with consultative and continuous care of their orthopedic, medical, nutritional, and psychosocial issues. Although sports medicine concepts are often thought of in conjunction with professional and elite athletes, these concepts apply to athletes of all levels including grade school, high school, college and recreational athletes (“weekend athletes”). AMSSM is comprised of Sports Medicine Physicians whose goal is to provide a link between the rapidly expanding core of knowledge related to sports medicine and its application to patients in a clinical setting.