Chronic traumatic encephalopathy among former football players
Participation in professional football may increase the prevalence of perceived chronic traumatic encephalopathy and subsequent suicidality.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive degenerative disease that occurs when individuals — particularly athletes — experience repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
In a study published in JAMA Neurology, investigators examined the responses of 1,980 former players who completed a survey between 2017 and 2020.
Despite chronic traumatic encephalopathy diagnosis requiring postmortem neuropathologic examination, more than one-third of the participants believed they had the condition. Among those with perceived chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the risk of suicidal thoughts was more than two times higher compared with the players without perceived chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Further, the players with the perceived condition were more likely to report cognitive impairment, depression, emotional and behavioral dysregulation, chronic pain and low testosterone levels.
The findings indicated that perceived chronic traumatic encephalopathy may be correlated with poorer mental health outcomes among former football players.
Read more: JAMA Neurology
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