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
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
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.
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