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- Title
American Football Play and Parkinson Disease Among Men.
- Authors
Bruce, Hannah J.; Tripodis, Yorghos; McClean, Michael; Korell, Monica; Tanner, Caroline M.; Contreras, Brittany; Gottesman, Joshua; Kirsch, Leslie; Karim, Yasir; Martin, Brett; Palmisano, Joseph; Abdolmohammadi, Bobak; Shih, Ludy C.; Stein, Thor D.; Stern, Robert A.; Adler, Charles H.; Mez, Jesse; Nowinski, Chris; McKee, Ann C.; Alosco, Michael L.
- Abstract
Key Points: Question: What is the association between participation in organized American football and odds of having a reported diagnosis of parkinsonism or PD? Findings: In this cross-sectional study that leveraged data from the Fox Insight online study, 729 participants with a history of playing organized football had higher odds of having a reported parkinsonism or PD diagnosis compared with participants in other organized sports. Longer duration of play and higher level of football play were associated with higher odds of a reported diagnosis. Meaning: The findings suggest that participation in American football might be a risk factor for developing parkinsonism or PD. This cross-sectional study assesses the association between American football participation and parkinsonism in the US. Importance: Parkinsonism and Parkinson disease (PD) are known to result from repetitive head impacts from boxing. Repetitive head impacts from American football may also be associated with increased risk of neurodegenerative pathologies that cause parkinsonism, yet in vivo research on the association between football play and PD is scarce and limited by small samples and equivocal findings. Objective: To evaluate the association between football participation and self-reported parkinsonism or PD diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study leveraged data from the online Fox Insight study. Participants completed online questionnaires and self-reported whether they currently had a diagnosis of Parkinson disease or parkinsonism by a physician or other health care professional. In November 2020, the Boston University Head Impact Exposure Assessment was launched for data collection on repetitive head impacts. Data used for this manuscript were obtained from the Fox Insight database on June 9, 2022. A total of 1875 men who endorsed playing any organized sport were included. Former athletes were divided into those who participated in football (n = 729 [38.9%]) and those who participated in other sports (reference group). Exposures: Self-reported participation in football, duration and level of football play, age at first exposure. Main Outcomes and Measures: Logistic regression tested associations between PD status and history of football play, duration of football play, highest level played, and age at first exposure, controlling for age, education, history of diabetes or heart disease, body mass index, history of traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness, and family history of PD. Results: In this sample of 1875 men (mean [SD] age, 67.69 [9.84] years) enriched for parkinsonism or PD (n = 1602 [85.4%]), 729 (38.9%) played football (mean [SD] duration, 4.35 [2.91] years). History of playing football was associated with higher odds of having a parkinsonism or PD diagnosis (odds ratio [OR], 1.61; 95% CI, 1.19-2.17). Among the entire sample, longer duration of play was associated with higher odds of having a parkinsonism or PD diagnosis (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.06-1.19). Among football players, longer duration of football play (OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.02-1.23) and higher level of play (OR, 2.93; 95% CI, 1.28-6.73) were associated with higher odds of having parkinsonism or PD. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study of participants enriched for PD, participation in football was associated with higher odds of having a reported parkinsonism or PD diagnosis.
- Subjects
MEN'S health; CONFIDENCE intervals; SELF-evaluation; CROSS-sectional method; PARKINSON'S disease; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; RESEARCH funding; QUESTIONNAIRES; FOOTBALL; LOGISTIC regression analysis; ODDS ratio
- Publication
JAMA Network Open, 2023, Vol 6, Issue 8, pe2328644
- ISSN
2574-3805
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.28644