CDC study of retired NFL players gives no indication of higher suicide rate

[BigRichard]

I figured this would have already been posted since it came out last week but I don't see it. So fu if Q!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...cide/84224104/

A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found no indication former NFL players are at greater risk for suicide than the general U.S. population, and they’re also significantly less likely to die from cancer, heart disease and homicides.

The study, published this month in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, examined the suicide death rate among a group of 3,439 retired NFL players who played at least five seasons from 1959 to 1988, before the league began enacting numerous recent safety measures.

From 1979 to 2013, that group of former players experienced 12 suicide deaths – less than half the 25 expected in a comparable section of the population based on gender, race and age. Non-lineman were found to be significantly less likely to commit suicide than the general population, while linemen were also less likely, though the difference wasn’t mathematically significant.

The study comes at a time of heightened concern about the effects of brain trauma and the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which gained mainstream attention with the 2015 release of the docudrama Concussion, starring Will Smith.

“Clearly, our one study does not resolve the issue of suicide in football,” the study’s conclusion says. “Before reliable conclusions can be drawn on any relationship among football play, concussion, CTE, and suicide, more work needs to be done in several areas: (1) quantitatively assessing football-related risk factors, particularly in collecting valid concussion data; (2) collecting longitudinal non–football related suicide risk factor data, including the existence and prevalence of recurring pain among current and retired players; and (3) analysis of how the higher income and socioeconomic profile of professional football players compared to the general population positively or negatively affects suicide risk.”

The study points out several other limitations, including that it only counted players who died from a suicide attempt and didn’t account for living or deceased players who experienced significant psychological impairments.

Complete records were only available for players who were vested in the NFL pension plan, having played in 1988 or earlier and earned at least five credited seasons. The average career length of the subjects included was eight years, which is longer than the average player.

Overall, there were 537 deaths among the former players studied, compared to an expected 901, putting the mortality rate a little under 60% of that in the general population. Death rates from cancer (59%), heart diseases (75%) and assault and homicide (14%) also “continue to be significantly less than expected,” the study said.

“The issue of football players being at higher risk of suicide than the general population has been raised in the popular and scientific literature,” Dr. Douglas Trout, deputy director of the Division of Surveillance, Hazard and Field Studies at the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said in a media release.

“In studying this particular cohort of professional football players, our researchers did not find this to be the case; more studies are needed before further conclusions can be reached.”

[Valiant]

I have said numerous times check their bank accounts, most that have done it were about to lose everything or their wives/kids in divorce.

[Chiefshrink]

Originally Posted by Valiant

I have said numerous times check their bank accounts, most that have done it were about to lose everything or their wives/kids in divorce.

All this concussion BS is about the billion dollar NFL industry and how former financially irresponsible NFL players can recoup some of their financial mistakes through ambulance chasers now.

[Marcellus]

Shocking, just shocking I tell you.

[Rain Man]

Ed McCaffrey faked a lot of injuries. Maybe they finally pulled those out of the data.

[Discuss Thrower]

One thing I wondered about the correlation between tackle football and concussions was what effect alcohol and recreational drugs had on players who were eventually found to have CTE.

[BigRichard]

I am really surprised that this hasn't gotten more comments. I thought this would be a very good discussion. I guess I was wrong.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by BigRichard

I am really surprised that this hasn't gotten more comments. I thought this would be a very good discussion. I guess I was wrong.

It's not really that surprising. I would have hypothesized that NFL players are at a lesser risk of suicide than the general population given the risk factors of suicide being related to poor functioning on multiple levels. NFL players can certainly have some of the risk factors but it make sense that their status makes them better equipped to overcome struggles.

The sample population of this study was not limited to players with known concussion issues so it's not really relevant to that discussion and it is not a study about how concussions are related to suicide.

[Skyy God]

So, CTE's not a thing now?

Gotcha.