Career duration and later-life health conditions among former professional American-style football players.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_3968474400F7
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Career duration and later-life health conditions among former professional American-style football players.
Journal
Occupational and environmental medicine
Author(s)
Grashow R., Tan C.O., Thomas J.D., DiGregorio H., Lee H., Rotem R.S., Marengi D., Terry D.P., Eagle S.R., Iverson G.L., Whittington A.J., Zafonte R.D., Weisskopf M.G., Baggish A.L.
ISSN
1470-7926 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
1351-0711
Publication state
Published
Issued date
23/10/2024
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
81
Number
10
Pages
498-506
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article
Publication Status: epublish
Abstract
Career duration is often used as a metric of neurotrauma exposure in studies of elite athletes. However, as a proxy metric, career length may not accurately represent causal factors, and associations with health outcomes may be susceptible to selection effects. To date, relationships between professional American-style football (ASF) career length and postcareer health remain incompletely characterised.
We conducted a survey-based cross-sectional cohort study of former professional ASF players. Flexible regression methods measured associations between self-reported career duration and four self-reported health conditions: pain, arthritis, mood and cognitive symptoms. We also measured associations between career duration and four self-reported ASF exposures: prior concussion signs and symptoms (CSS), performance enhancing drugs, intracareer surgeries and average snaps per game. Models were adjusted for age and race.
Among 4189 former players (52±14 years of age, 39% black, 34% lineman position), the average career length was 6.7±3.9 professional seasons (range=1-20+). We observed inverted U-shaped relationships between career duration and outcomes (all p<0.001), indicating that adverse health effects were more common among men with intermediate career durations than those with shorter or longer careers. Similar findings were observed for play-related exposures (eg, CSS and snaps).
Relationships between ASF career duration and subsequent health status are non-linear. Attenuation of the associations among longer career players may reflect selection effects and suggest career length may serve as a poor proxy for true causal factors. Findings highlight the need for cautious use of career duration as a proxy exposure metric in studies of former athletes.
Keywords
Humans, Middle Aged, Cross-Sectional Studies, Male, Adult, Football/injuries, Football/statistics & numerical data, Aged, Time Factors, United States/epidemiology, Athletes/statistics & numerical data, Athletes/psychology, Arthritis/epidemiology, Health Status, Brain Concussion/epidemiology, Brain Concussion/etiology, Pain/etiology, Pain/epidemiology, Cohort Studies, Epidemiology, Occupational Health, Osteoarthritis, Wounds and Injuries
Pubmed
Open Access
Yes
Create date
28/10/2024 14:18
Last modification date
29/10/2024 7:22
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