ArticleMayo Clinic proceedings2017
High School Football and Late-Life Risk of Neurodegenerative Syndromes, 1956-1970.
Article in Mayo Clinic proceedings, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 100 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is dementia more likely following traumatic brain injury? A systematic review.Journal of neurology · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review on the risk of neurodegenerative diseases and neurocognitive disorders in professional and varsity athletes.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review of potential long-term effects of sport-related concussion.British journal of sports medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Long-term neurobehavioral and neuroimaging outcomes in athletes with prior concussion(s) and head impact exposure.The Clinical neuropsychologist · 2025Review
- Head Injury and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Population-Based Study from the National ALS Registry.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Dementia in former amateur and professional contact sports participants: population-based cohort study, systematic review, and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
- Suicide and depression in former contact sports participants: population-based cohort study, systematic review, and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
- Physical activity as an exogenous risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a review of the evidence.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2023Review
- Relating American Football Age of First Exposure to Patient-Reported Outcomes and Medical Diagnoses Among Former National Football League Players: An NFL-LONG study.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Article
- Traumatic Brain Injury and Risk of Neurodegenerative Disorder.Biological psychiatry · 2022Review
- Assessment of causal effects of physical activity on neurodegenerative diseases: A Mendelian randomization study.Journal of sport and health science · 2021Article
- Identifying degenerative effects of repetitive head trauma with neuroimaging: a clinically-oriented review.Acta neuropathologica communications · 2021Review
- Age of First Exposure to Football Is Not Associated With Later-in-Life Cognitive or Mental Health Problems.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- Age of First Exposure to Contact and Collision Sports and Later in Life Brain Health: A Narrative Review.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Review
- Predictors and Correlates of Perceived Cognitive Decline in Retired Professional Rugby League Players.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- Sensory Reweighting for Upright Stance in Soccer Players: A Comparison of High and Low Exposure to Soccer Heading.Journal of neurotrauma · 2020Article
- A Prospective Study of Concussions and Health Outcomes in High School Football Players.Journal of athletic training · 2020Article
- Estimated Age of First Exposure to Contact Sports and Neurocognitive, Psychological, and Physical Outcomes in Healthy NCAA Collegiate Athletes: A Cohort Study.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2020Article
- Benefits of team sport participation versus concerns of chronic traumatic encephalopathy: prioritizing the health of our youth.Concussion (London, England) · 2020Article
- Association between contact sports participation and chronic traumatic encephalopathy: a retrospective cohort study.Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo assess whether athletes who played American varsity high school football between 1956 and 1970 have an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases later in life. PATIENTS AND
methodsWe identified all male varsity football players between 1956 and 1970 in the public high schools of Rochester, Minnesota, and non-football-playing male varsity swimmers, wrestlers, and basketball players. Using the medical records linkage system of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, we ascertained the incidence of late-life neurodegenerative diseases: dementia, parkinsonism, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We also recorded medical record-documented head trauma during high school years.
resultsWe identified 296 varsity football players and 190 athletes engaging in other sports. Football players had an increased risk of medically documented head trauma, especially if they played football for more than 1 year. Compared with nonfootball athletes, football players did not have an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease overall or of the individual conditions of dementia, parkinsonism, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
conclusionIn this community-based study, varsity high school football players from 1956 to 1970 did not have an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases compared with athletes engaged in other varsity sports. This was from an era when there was a generally nihilistic view of concussion dangers, less protective equipment, and no prohibition of spearing (head-first tackling). However, the size and strength of players from previous eras may not be comparable with that of current high school athletes.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.