Do I Have CTE Quiz

People who want a clearer grasp of head-impact science can use this assessment to distinguish CTE from concussion and from other possible explanations for cognitive or emotional changes. The result from this CTE quiz points to knowledge strengths and topics that may deserve further study. The Do I Have CTE Quiz is an educational check of understanding, not a measure of personal risk or medical status.

What This Assessment Explores

The questionnaire measures factual understanding of CTE, repeated head impacts, concussion, traumatic encephalopathy syndrome, diagnosis, prevention, and urgent safety decisions.

The questions emphasize distinctions that are easy to blur: an acute injury differs from a progressive disease, symptoms can have multiple causes, and exposure history alone cannot predict an individual outcome.

Its CTE Knowledge scale runs from 0 to 16 and reflects answers on the knowledge items, not symptoms, personal risk, or medical status. The result falls into three educational bands:

• Foundations to build (0-6) indicates that core distinctions and safety principles need review.
• Developing knowledge (7-12) indicates partial command of essentials, with room to strengthen understanding of diagnostic limits, symptom overlap, and prevention.
• Strong knowledge (13-16) indicates solid coverage of current CTE fundamentals and safety principles.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Each item presents a question about CTE, head-impact safety, or clinical interpretation, with four answer choices. Because it asks for the best-supported statement, the questionnaire tests concept recognition rather than symptom reporting. Themes include alternative explanations for memory or mood changes, limits of diagnosis during life, scans and helmets, removal from play, return to activity, and warning signs after an impact.

The questionnaire is conceptually consistent with the NINDS TES criteria and concussion-safety guidance, but it is not an adaptation of those published works. The NINDS TES criteria distinguish research-based clinical criteria from confirmed CTE pathology; the Bieniek neuropathology study addresses why clinical presentation and postmortem findings are not interchangeable, while the Amsterdam concussion consensus covers evaluation, removal from play, and return to activity.

Its result bands are educational summaries, not validated clinical cutoffs. Knowledge performance can vary with prior exposure, guessing, attention, and wording; the score cannot confirm or exclude CTE or traumatic brain injury. Persistent symptoms or concerns after a recent impact require medical evaluation, and worsening headache, repeated vomiting, or confusion require urgent attention regardless of the total.