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Cited by 112Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesTraumatic Brain Injury ResearchSports injuries and prevention

Suicide mortality among retired National Football League players who played 5 or more seasons

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Lehman, Everett J., Hein, Misty J., Gersic, Christine M.·2016·The American Journal of Sports Medicine
DOI 10.1177/0363546516645093PMC PMC5048489
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is current disagreement in the scientific literature about the relationship between playing football and suicide risk, particularly among professional players in the National Football League (NFL). While some research indicates players are at high risk of football-related concussions, which may lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy and suicide, other research finds such a connection to be speculative and unsupported by methodologically sound research. PURPOSE: To compare the suicide mortality of a cohort of NFL players to what would be expected in the general population of the United States. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: A cohort of 3439 NFL players with at least 5 credited playing seasons between 1959 and 1988 was assembled for statistical analysis. The vital status for this cohort was updated through 2013. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs), the ratio of observed deaths to expected deaths, and 95% CIs were computed for the cohort; 95% CIs that excluded unity were considered statistically significant. For internal comparison purposes, standardized rate ratios were calculated to compare mortality results between players stratified into speed and nonspeed position types. RESULTS: Suicide among this cohort of professional football players was significantly less than would be expected in comparison with the United States population (SMR = 0.47; 95% CI, 0.24-0.82). There were no significant differences in suicide mortality between speed and nonspeed position players. CONCLUSION: There is no indication of elevated suicide risk in this cohort of professional football players with 5 or more credited seasons of play. Because of the unique nature of this cohort, these study results may not be applicable to professional football players who played fewer than 5 years or to college or high school players.

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Authors
Lehman, E. J., Hein, M. J., & Gersic, C. M.
Affiliations
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
Corresponding author
Lehman, Everett J.
Venue
The American Journal of Sports Medicine
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2016-07-20
Volume
44
Issue
10
Pages
2486-2491
ISSN
  • 0363-5465 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-3365
DOI
10.1177/0363546516645093
PMC
PMC5048489
OpenAlex
W2345347046
Cited by
112
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 3
FWCI
17.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • The American Journal of Sports Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (CC999999)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports injuries and prevention
Keywords
suicide mortality, National Football League players, professional football, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, standardized mortality ratio, suicide risk, former athletes
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Football, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Retirement, Seasons, Suicide, United States, Cohort Studies

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