Table 2 Online elite athlete mortality articles (n = 3)
From: Do Elite Athletes Live Longer? A Systematic Review of Mortality and Longevity in Elite Athletes
Sport/Country | Authors | N | Key finding | LE vs. GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NFLa | Baron and Rinsky [62] (NIOSH) (1994) | 6848 | NFL players had a 46 % decreased MR (SMR = 0.54); linemen had a 52 % greater risk of death from heart disease than the GP, and three times the risk compared to football players; players had a decreased risk of death from violence (79 %) and accidents (39 %); (players since 1959; death through 1991) | ↑ |
NFLa | Hargrove [63] (Scripps Howard News Service) (2006) | 3850 | The heaviest NFL players were more than twice as likely to die before their 50th birthday than their teammates; players are generally not dying sooner than average, but offensive and defensive linemen had a 52 % greater risk of dying from heart disease than the GP; out of the 130 players who died before age 50, 1/69 players born since 1955 are dead, 22 % of which died of heart diseases (77 % qualified as obese) and 19 % from homicides or suicides; when compared to 2403 MLB players who have died in the last century, NFL players are more than twice as likely to die before age 50 (born since 1905) | -- |
Mixeda | Barnwell [64] (Grantland) (2012) | 4582 | 12.8 % of football players had died (n = 3088) compared to 15.9 % of baseball players (n = 1494) as of 2007 (active from 1959–1988) | -- |