Longer National Football League (NFL) careers and certain playing positions appear to each spell greater long-term risk for serious cognitive problems such as confusion, memory deficits, depression and anxiety in former football players, according to a new report published Aug. 30 in The American Journal of Sports Medicine.
The study is believed to be the first to explore the interplay between career length, position and cognitive and mental health outcomes among professional football players.
The analysis — based on a survey of nearly 3,500 former NFL players — was conducted by investigators at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School as part of the ongoing Football Players Health Study at Harvard University.
Tags: Friday Letter Submission, Publish on September 06