September 2, 2014British Journal of Sports Medicine
All-cause and disease-specific mortality among male, former elite athletes: an average 50-year follow-up
Why the study?
Does being a former elite athlete improve life expectancy and reduce mortality compared to healthy controls?
Population
Former Finnish male endurance, team, and power sports athletes (N=2363) and healthy male controls (N=1657)
Comparison
Former elite athlete status vs Controls (men who were healthy as young adults)
Design
Cohort
Follow-up
median 50 years
Authors
Discussion
Loading...
Member takes
Implication
May support longevity in former endurance/team athletes; leaves open causality and generalizability beyond this cohort.
Structured PICO
Does being a former elite athlete improve life expectancy and reduce mortality compared to healthy controls?
P
Population
Former Finnish male endurance, team, and power sports athletes (N=2363) and healthy male controls (N=1657)
I
Intervention
Former elite athlete status (endurance, team, or power sports)
C
Comparator
Controls (men who were healthy as young adults)
O
Outcome
Life expectancy and total mortalityhard clinical
Former elite male athletes, particularly in endurance and team sports, have a 5-6 year longer life expectancy and lower cardiovascular mortality compared to healthy controls, partly driven by lower smoking rates.
Cite This Study
Kettunen et al. (2014) studied this question.