Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Omran AR. Body mass index, playing position, race, and the cardiovascular mortality of retired professional football players. For example, available evidence suggests a possible connection between dietary supplements and/or drug use and the high prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in former soccer players [55, 56]. The objective of our review was to advance knowledge on elite athlete mortality and longevity to ultimately determine whether elite-level participation in high-performance sport produces a lifespan longevity advantage. In addition, each sport will have a different inaugural season, which limits the amount of deceased players in the relatively newer sports (e.g., mixed martial arts). 2005;83:73157. Macmillan, New York; 1997. http://grantland.com/features/comparing-mortality-rates-football-baseball/. Springer Nature. Thus, factors such as being physically capable to participate in physical activity are important to consider when determining an individuals quality of life. Similarly, Teramoto and Bungum [16] completed a narrative review of mortality and longevity of elite athletes; however, a relatively small sample of 14 epidemiological studies was included. 2002;1:67391. Further, while it has been suggested that health is influenced by certain symbolic aspects of the environment [66], such as a decreased prevalence of death before birthdays (e.g., [67]), the scientific rationale behind the initials of a name affecting lifespan longevity is limited. 1992;70:25967. Sports Helath. Risk of bias can affect the cumulative evidence of a review of literature [33], such as selective reporting within studies, whereby researchers may under-report variables that were found to have less statistical impact on longevity outcomes in the course of reporting results that support the direction of their findings. [32] examined 38 studies that measured physical activity and all-cause mortality in samples of physically active individuals (non-elite athletes) and reported an overall significant relationship between physical activity participation and lower all-cause mortality. Okorodudu DO, Jumean MF, Montori VM, Romero-Corral A, Somers VK, Erwin PJ, et al. Privacy Mayo Clin Proc. Google Scholar. Longevity of Major League Baseball players. Published Online First: [2 Sept 2014]. In this study, we focus on mortality of previously elite athletes. doi:10.1055/s-00281128150. The inclusion criteria were the following: (1) publication year 1980 or later; (2) the study examined elite-level athletes; and (3) outcome data measured mortality/longevity trends and/or causes. As a result, studies with important information regarding longevity in elite athletes were excluded, such as greater longevity in Norwegian professional divers (hazard ratio [HR]=0.79, 95% CI 0.630.997) [8], and important mechanisms that may influence longevity, such as sex, as indicated by Olympic medal-winning females having greater longevity relative to Olympic medal-winning male athletes (HR=0.61, 95% CI 0.510.72) [9], and race, as indicated by African-American professional basketball players having a 77% greater risk of death compared with white players (HR=1.77, 95% CI 1.352.32) [10]. (70.4, 72.2) yr; and in the reference group 69.9 (69.0, 70.9) yr." The increase in life expectancy found in athletes was mainly due to decreased cardiovascular mortality A majority of studies included in this review reported superior lifespan longevity outcomes for elite athletes compared to age- and sex-matched controls from the general population and other athletes. [. It is equally important to make the distinction between quality of life and longevity, as physical health likely moderates psychosocial health. ), psychosocial measures, collegiate athletes, and studies on the effectiveness of pre-screening strategies and prevention. Death Stud. [, Sarna S, Kaprio J, Kujala UM, Koskenvuo M. Health status of former elite athletes. The J of the Am Med Assoc. 2009;8:7112. "The longevity of sporting legends," by Professor Les Mayhew, explains that top-level cricketers, rugby union, golf and tennis players have benefited from the greatest increases in life expectancy, while boxers and jockeys are actually likely to live shorter lives than the average man across England and Wales, after taking into account general rises in life expectancy. Of the 54 peer-reviewed studies included, 4 were responses to the authors of different studies related to mortality and longevity of elite athletes [29, 30, 42, 44]. *Additional records were identified through searching the references of records that were identified through database searching and a general web search (i.e., Google Scholar). 1993;2:23744. The general finding of these studies was a greater longevity for elite athletes relative to their American controls. Similarly, a meta-analysis performed by Lllgen et al. The context in which the historical data are transferable is important to consider, particularly when discussing the social determinants of health [73]. Fafian Jr J. Mortality experience of National Basketball Association players. Lemez, S., Baker, J. Cookies policy. Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. [. Abel and Kruger [17] discussed two advantages to studying elite athletes with regards to longevity. 2005;29:95963. The in-depth study by the International Longevity Center UK (ILC) and supported by the Business School (formerly Cass)based on records over a 180-year Click here to sign in with Seventeen additional articles were retrieved from reference lists found in these papers and a general web search. The longevity of sporting legends. Therefore, each sport will have unique statistical variables that may make it more difficult for researchers to draw cross-sport comparisons. PubMed Central 2012;345:1927. With regard to athlete race, this has been shown to be associated with longevity in NBA [10] and NFL players [19], as well as with education and longevity in MLB players [45]. 1999;47:24154. The Am J of Med. For example, medical care accessibility made available by higher income may improve the LE of athletes when compared to other groups. We assessed the quality of each of these records through the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for cohort studies [34]. sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal In this review, we consider the relationship between participation at elite levels of sport and mortality risk relative to other athletes and age- and sex-matched controls from the general population. 2005;13:15. Although there are a variety ways to statistically measure and report mortality, research must be substantiated through repetition. The average, though, masks to some degree how much the big salaries have increased. We identified 1001 records through database searching using the aforementioned keywords. The majority of studies included in this review examined sport organizations that were primarily located in the USA and used age- and sex-matched controls that were also American (MLB, NBA, and NFL). In turn, the emergence of a hypothetical name-longevity relationship in elite athletes emphasizes the need for greater replication in this area of research. Received 2014 Oct 17; Accepted 2015 Jun 16. Average The life expectancy of elite athletes across different sports Fudin R, Renninger L, Lembessis E, Hirshon J. Sinistrality and reduced longevity: Reichlers 1979 data on baseball players do not indicate a relationship. For instance, Baron et al. Google Scholar. Further, weight also influenced the lifespan longevities of baseball players [61, 69] and played a role in the longevities of Japanese sumo wrestlers, although its influence appeared to be small [OR=1.08, CI 1.011.15; 57]. Our objective was to identify, collate, and disseminate a comprehensive list of risk factors associated with longevity and trends and causes of mortality among elite athletes. An overwhelming majority of studies included in this review reported favorable lifespan longevities for athletes compared to their age- and sex-matched controls from the general population. Abel EL, Kruger ML. As a result, overall mortality risk is explained by several modifiable factors, such as obesity and physical inactivity, and non-modifiable (unchangeable) factors, such as age and race, that are unique to athletes. Perhaps more importantly, the applicability of these results to the general population (i.e., non-elite-athletes) can likely be best explained by mechanisms of mortality that have not been extensively examined to date in the athlete cohort. ilcuk.org.uk/the-longevity-of-sporting-legends/. The epidemiologic transition: a theory of the epidemiology of population change. Peer-reviewed elite athlete mortality literature (>1980; n=54), Studies with no subscript analyzed multiple countries, or other sports were used as controls. Do professional athletes have a shorter lifespan on average? Measures of mortality included hazard rate/ratio of death (HR), life expectancy (LE), mortality rate (MR), odds ratio for mortality (OR), relative conditional survival (RCS), relative survival ratio (RSR), standardized mortality ratio (SMR), and standardized proportionate mortality ratio (SPMR). In total, 57 studies filled the criteria for inclusion (Tables1 and 2): 54 peer-reviewed publications (see Table1), in addition to three articles from online sources included to investigate findings of mortality risk in elite athletes that may be disseminated to a different cohort of the population (e.g., social media users; see Table2). Percept and Mot Skills. After review of title and abstract, we excluded 961 of those records (identical papers, n=31; inclusion criteria not fulfilled, n=930; most commonly due to studies not examining elite athletes and/or mortality/longevity trends), which left 40 eligible full-text articles from the Web of Science database search. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy Death Stud. Measures of mortality included hazard rate/ratio of death (HR), life expectancy (LE), mortality rate (MR), odds ratio for mortality (OR), relative conditional survival (RCS), relative survival ratio (RSR), standardized mortality ratio (SMR), and standardized proportionate mortality ratio (SPMR). However, contradicting the negative associations of all-cause mortality and power sports, Antero-Jacquemin et al. Attaining a complete understanding of an athletes lifespan requires knowledge of the inherent complexity of relationships that link hereditary and environmental characteristics to developmental outcomes. Handedness and longevity: archival study of cricketers. Athletes, doctors, and lawyers with first names beginning with D die sooner. A Systematic Review of Mortality and Longevity in Elite Athletes, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-015-0024-x, http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epidemiology/oxford.asp, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/pdfs/nflfactsheet.pdf, http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2313476, http://grantland.com/features/comparing-mortality-rates-football-baseball/, http://dx.doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-49.3.18, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. A 59-year historical cohort study. Currently, it may be premature to make conclusions about the long-term value of being a professional athlete considering the new evidence that has emerged from literature. Boxing is characterized by intentional and repetitive head blows, doi:10.1136/bjsports-2013-093347. Considerable support was found for superior longevity outcomes for elite athletes, particularly those in endurance and mixed sports. Lehman EJ, Hein MJ, Baron SL, Gersic CM. Lawler TP, Lawler FH, Gibson J, Murray R. Does the African-American-white mortality gap persist after playing professional basketball? HETA 88085. Saint Onge JM, Rogers RG, Krueger PM. The implication of these biases on the cumulative evidence of this review is unclear, and as a result, it is important to consider how publication bias can under- and overestimate certain predictors of longevity. Moreover, it is notable that the sports examined have examined periods of different length. Article For example, former male Finnish world class athletes were found to be more active than their non-competitive controls [79], and participation in physical activity at a young age predicted later life involvement, which reduced the prevalence of coronary heart disease [80]. Aggleton JP, Kentridge RW, Neave NJ. Mayo Clin Proc. Lavie CJ, OKeefe JH, Sallis RE. Longevity of soccer players: an investigation of all German internationals from 1908 to 2006. Increased average longevity among the Tour de France cyclists. Coate D, Sun R. Survival estimates for elite male and female Olympic athletes and tennis championship competitors. Left-handedness in professional basketball: prevalence, performance, and survival. CAS As a whole, the empirical evidence suggests that several mechanisms within and between sports have powerful effects on the overall lifespan longevities of players. However, the retirement age of esports athletes also come sooner than others. In particular, weight and position significantly influenced mortality risk in NFL players [19, 49, 50, 6163, 68]. Morcet J, Perrin M, Trgaro M, Carr F, Deugnier Y. Mortality in a cohort of 514 elite road cyclists. Keywords, including athletes, death, elite, high performance life expect*, longevity, mortality, players, professional, and sport, were used to locate research articles. Increased mortality rate and suicide in Swedish former elite male athletes in power sports. Future work in this area of research would benefit from replication of control variables when analyzing the same or similar athletic populations to better establish important predictors of longevity. 2001;285:434. J of Toxicol: Clin Toxicol. 2011;113:81524. Between 1968, the start of the open era when professional players were admitted to Wimbledon, and 2020, male finalists experienced a 25 percent increase in longevity. Bull of the World Health Organ. Christenfeld N, Phillips DP, Glynn LM. While a relationship between longevity and handedness was identified in elite cricketers [51], the inclusion of a larger sample size appears to have washed out previous significant findings [52]. Fogelholm M, Kaprio J, Sarna S. Healthy lifestyles of former Finnish world class athletes. 2009;19:41924. 2012;27:915. Why do esports players retire so early Arguably, the most objective measurement of elite athlete health is rate of mortality. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed1000097. Another criticism of the athlete-mortality literature is on methodological grounds; more specifically, cross-study discrepancies in the statistical tests and/or measures used. Careers, Unable to load your collection due to an error. We will first examine the possible biases in epidemiological research in historical samples of athletes. 2014. doi: Paluska SA, Schwenk TL. An updated assessment of baseball player data. Alternatively, less consistent results were found in soccer players, in which both superior survival rates in Dutch players [23] and inferior survival rates in German players [24] were reported, alongside increases in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) prevalence in Italian players [55, 56]. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Medical Xpress in any form. Research on the heritability of physical fitness (e.g., [84]) suggests that we cannot discount the influence of advantageous genetic inheritance coupled with high levels of participation and competition in sport. Nevertheless, differences in longevity related to handedness appear to be non-existent in MLB [35, 42, 44] and NBA players [25]. The inclusion criteria were the following: (1) publication year 1980 or later; (2) the study examined elite-level athletes; and (3) outcome data measured mortality/longevity trends and/or causes. Increased life expectancy of world class male athletes. 2013;63:53743. 31 Jan 2006. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2313476. Prssinen M, Kujala U, Vartiainen E, Sarna S, Seppl T. Increased premature mortality of competitive powerlifters suspected to have used anabolic agents. Baron S, Rinsky R. Health hazard evaluation report, National Football League players mortality study. 1 for the PRISMA statement [33]. Kanda H, Hayakawa T, Tsuboi S, Mori Y, Takahashi T, Fukushima T. Higher body mass index is a predictor of death among professional sumo wrestlers. Precocity predicts shorter life for major league baseball players: confirmation of McCanns precocity-longevity hypothesis. Kalist DE, Peng Y. Macmillan, New York; 1997. This review included a total of 465,575 athletes: 450,295 from peer-reviewed literature (Table1) and 15,280 from online articles (Table2). Increased mortality rate and suicide in Swedish former elite male athletes in power sports. In this review, we consider the relationship between participation at elite levels of sport and mortality risk relative to other athletes and age- and sex-matched controls from the general population. The birthday: lifeline or deadline? Similarly, the one-off studies from international researchers whose controls spanned 12 different countries also reflect a general trend towards increased survival rates for a diverse group of athletes relative to their country-specific controls from the general population. [76] found that relatively older former student athletes (age 43+years) had a greater risk for joint health concerns later in life compared to a non-athlete control group. Koning RH, Amelink R. Medium-term mortality of Dutch professional soccer players. 2013;12:90102. [. Similar to Teramoto and Bungums [16] findings, the largest gains in lifespan longevities were in endurance and mixed-sport athletes. School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, M3J 1P3, ON, Canada, You can also search for this author in 1988;318:127880. Diagnostic performance of body mass index to identify obesity as defined by body adiposity: a systematic review and meta- analysis. Coate D, Schwenkenberg J. Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for assessing the quality of non-randomized studies in meta-analysis. 2011;21:2605. Daily science news on research developments and the latest scientific innovations, The latest engineering, electronics and technology advances, The most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web. Grantland. In this review, we consider the relationship between participation at elite levels of sport and mortality risk relative to other athletes and age- and sex-matched controls from the general population. Br Med J. Future research on mortality in elite athletes would benefit from more comprehensive statistical measures and reliable databases to determine potential mechanisms that may influence mortality trends and causes in both athlete and non-athlete samples. Three peer-reviewed studies from their review did not match our inclusion criteria (<1980). [. Grimsmo J, Maehlum S, Moelstad P, Arnesen H. Mortality and cardiovascular morbidity among long-term endurance male cross country skiers followed for 2830years. [, Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG; PRISMA Group. Positive youth development through sport. Although our overall understanding of modifiable and non-modifiable factors that contribute to mortality risk in elite athletes remains limited, in part due to methodological and data source inconsistencies [29, 30], some trends emerged from our investigation. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages. Current empirical evidence on the rates of mortality in athletes is far superior to our knowledge on the causes of mortality. Toxicological deaths of Major League Baseball players. As such, there is an opportunity to grow our current limited understanding of longevity outcomes of elite athletes by examining a wider range of studies and sports through a systematic review. Evidence for longevity differences between left handed and right handed men: an archival study of cricketers. Accessed 15 Sept 2014. In particular, OKeefe (e.g., [81, 82]) has advocated that excessive aerobic training can result in cardiovascular damage (e.g., atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, and malignant ventricular arrhythmias). The implication of these biases on the cumulative evidence of this review is unclear, and as a result, it is important to consider how publication bias can under- and overestimate certain predictors of longevity. A variety of mechanisms have attempted to explain mortality risk (e.g., handedness, playing position, achievement, etc.). Although it appears that there are many unanswered questions concerning athletes lifespan longevities, Teramoto and Bungum [16] presented enough empirical evidence to determine some cross-sport and energy system trends.