Health disparities among former NFL players
Black, other nonwhite athletes report more pain, physical impairment,
mood disorders and cognitive problems than white peers

Date:
August 11, 2020
Source:
Harvard Medical School
Summary:
Among former NFL players, Black, Hawaiian, and athletes from other
racial backgrounds report worse physical, mental health outcomes
than white players. The widest health gaps emerged between Black
and white former NFL players. Black former players reported worse
health outcomes in all five health categories, compared with
their white peers. Presence of health disparities among former
NLF players reflects the deep and pervasive nature of systemic
inequities that persist even among elite athletes, study suggests.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A career in professional football may yield an array of health benefits
that extend beyond playing years: NFL players engage in vigorous training,
tend to be more educated than other men in the U.S. and have higher median incomes than most fellow Americans -- all factors associated with better overall health.


==========================================================================
But new research from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan
School of Public Health suggests that even these advantages may not be
enough to neutralize persistent gaps in health outcomes among Black,
white and players of other racial backgrounds.

The analysis, based on self-reports among former NFL players, found
that Black players were significantly more likely than white players to experience diminished quality of life due to impaired physical function,
pain, cognitive troubles, depression and anxiety. In four of five health outcomes, the gaps were greatest between Black and white former players.

The findings, published on August 4 in Annals of Epidemiology, are based
on a survey of 3,794 former NFL players, ages 24 to 89, conducted as
part of the ongoing Football Players Health Study at Harvard University,
a research initiative that encompasses a constellation of studies designed
to evaluate various aspects of players' health across the lifespan.

The researchers categorized former players into three groups based on
self- identified race: Black (1,423), white (2,215) and Hawaiian and
other races (109) -- a group that included American Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander and Asian, among others.

Next, the researchers compared self-reported symptoms in five categories: physical functioning, pain, cognitive function, depression and anxiety.



==========================================================================
The analysis showed that Black former NFL players were 50 percent more
likely than white former players to have pain that interfered with daily activities, as well as depression and anxiety. Black former players
were 36 percent more likely to have cognitive symptoms -- including
memory deficits and attention problems -- that impacted their quality
of life. Black former players were also nearly 90 percent more likely
to report impaired physical functioning, compared with their white peers.

The study found that other nonwhite players, including Native Hawaiians,
had a higher risk for all categories of adverse health outcomes, except impaired physical functioning.

"Our analysis points to persistent and dramatic gaps in health outcomes
among former NFL players that are particularly pronounced among Black
athletes and also present among other Hawaiians, Native Americans and
Asian players," said study lead author Andrea Roberts, senior research scientist at the Harvard T.H.

Chan School of Public Health.

"Our findings underscore the urgent need to develop public health
interventions and policies that address underlying systemic factors
that give rise to such disparities both among former athletes and in
the general population," Roberts added.

To examine the role of other factors that may affect health outcomes,
the researchers also looked at number of seasons played in the NFL,
position played, concussion symptoms, surgeries, body-mass index, use
of performance- enhancing drugs, lifestyle habits including drinking
and smoking, as well as pain medication use. The differences persisted
even when the researchers accounted for the possible influence of these factors.

Next, the researchers examined whether differences in health varied by a player's age, as a surrogate marker for diversity and equity in the era
that they played in. Although younger nonwhite players were in the NFL
during a period marked by greater diversity and greater equity, their risk
for adverse health outcomes remained the same as that of older players.

The researchers suggested that factors such as discrimination prior to,
during, or following a player's time in the NFL could account for the disparities.

Systemic and structural racism has been linked with worse mental
and physical health and higher mortality. Additionally, past research
indicates that nonwhites are more likely to receive lower quality health
care than whites.

"We tend to think that elite athletes may be shielded from health
inequities, but our findings counter that notion and reveal important differences in quality of life among former athletes," said study senior
author Marc Weisskopf, professor of environmental epidemiology and
physiology at the Harvard Chan School. "These gaps echo well-documented
health disparities in the general population and demand both short-term interventions and long-term solutions." "As we begin to unpack the complexities around these health disparities between white and nonwhite players, we can begin to see the confluence of challenges that extend
beyond the socioeconomic benefits of playing in the NFL," said study
co-author Herman Taylor, a co-investigator of the Football Players
Health Study and director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine. "Meaningful solutions to systemic inequities
that fuel health disparities will not emerge overnight. In the meantime,
we urge players to consult their physicians about the health concerns
we've outlined in this study that might impact their quality of life."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Harvard_Medical_School. Original
written by Ekaterina Pesheva. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Andrea L. Roberts, Herman A. Taylor, Alicia J. Whittington, Ross D.

Zafonte, Frank E. Speizer, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Aaron Baggish,
Marc G.

Weisskopf. Race in association with physical and mental health among
former professional American-style football players: Findings from
the Football Players Health Study. Annals of Epidemiology, 2020;
DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.07.013 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200811204532.htm

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