Heads-Up: Risk-Specific Neurodegenerative Mortality and Years-Saved Analysis on the US Olympian Cohort

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the risk of neurodegenerative death (ND) that former Olympians endure due to their participation in sports grouped based on presumed repeated shocks to the head, and to understand the impact of their participation in such elite sports on their total longevity. Materials and Methods: The cohort included all former US Olympians, who participated in the Olympic Games (OG) between 1948 and 1972, and whose vital status and causes of death were verified (n = 2,193). Olympic sports were classified into three categories of exposure: Collision (the highest presumed risk of repeated shocks to the head), Contact, and No-Contact. The Fine-Gray competing risk regression model was used to compare the risk of ND where the No-Contact category was a reference group. The years-saved analysis was performed to quantify the number of years saved or lost to ND and total longevity compared with the US general population. Results: A total of 65 NDs were identified. Collision sports Olympians had a 3.11 (95% CI: 1.31–7.40) higher risk of ND while the Contact group showed a risk of 0.56 (95% CI: 0.21–1.48) compared with the No-Contact sports Olympians. Compared with the general population, the Collision group lost 0.61 (95% CI: -1.16—0.06) years of life from ND, while the Contact group saved 0.4 (95% CI: 0.26–0.54) and the No-Contact group saved 0.09 (-0.09–0.28) years of life up to the age of 90. Regarding the total longevity, Collision, Contact, and No-Contact groups saved 4.67 (95% CI: 3.13–6.22), 5.8 (95% CI: 4.93–6.67), and 6.24 (95% CI: 5.57–6.92) years of life, respectively, from all causes of death. Conclusion: There is an elevated risk of ND among US Olympians, who engaged in sports with the highest presumed risk of repeated shocks to the head compared with those exposed to no such hazard. Such risk does not jeopardize the total longevity among Olympians in Collision sports.