Webner David, Iverson Grant L
a Department of Family Medicine , Crozer-Keystone Health System , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
b Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation , Harvard Medical School; Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital; Mass General Hospital for Children Sport Concussion Program; & Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program , Boston , MA , USA.
Brain Inj. 2016;30(13-14):1718-1721. doi: 10.1080/02699052.2016.1202451. Epub 2016 Oct 24.
To examine publicly-available information on all identified cases of suicide in active or former American professional football players between 1920 and the spring of 2015.
Retrospective cohort study.
Professional American Football in the US.
A cohort of 26 702 athletes who had died, retired or were currently playing in the NFL from nfl.com since 1920 was identified.
Internet queries identifying 26 professional football players who completed suicide. Obituaries and news reports were reviewed. The primary outcome measures included mortality, demographic characteristics and life circumstances in professional American football players completing suicide.
From 1920-2015, the median age of the 26 men who completed suicide was 39.5 years (range = 23-85). The median number of years after retirement was 6.5 (range = 0-63). Most of the deaths since 1920 have occurred in the past 15 years (58.7%) and a large percentage have occurred since 2009 (42.3%). Most of the men suffered from multiple life stressors prior to their deaths, such as retirement from sport, loss of steady income, divorce, failed business ventures, estrangement from family members and medical, psychiatric and/or substance abuse problems.
A disproportionate number of completed suicides in current and former professional football players have occurred since 2009 (42.3%). It is well established in the literature that the causes of depression and suicidality are diverse, often multifactorial and treatable. Providing at-risk retired athletes with mental health treatment will likely reduce their suffering and improve their quality-of-life.
研究1920年至2015年春季期间美国现役或退役职业橄榄球运动员中所有已确认的自杀案例的公开信息。
回顾性队列研究。
美国职业橄榄球运动。
确定了一组自1920年以来在nfl.com上已死亡、退役或仍在国家橄榄球联盟（NFL）打球的26702名运动员。
通过互联网查询确定26名完成自杀的职业橄榄球运动员。查阅了讣告和新闻报道。主要观察指标包括完成自杀的职业美国橄榄球运动员的死亡率、人口统计学特征和生活状况。
1920年至2015年期间，26名完成自杀的男性的中位年龄为39.5岁（范围=23-85岁）。退休后的中位年数为6.5年（范围=0-63年）。自1920年以来的大多数死亡发生在过去15年（58.7%），自2009年以来发生的比例很大（42.3%）。大多数男性在死亡前遭受多种生活压力源，如从体育界退役、稳定收入丧失、离婚、商业冒险失败、与家庭成员疏远以及医疗、精神和/或药物滥用问题。
自2009年以来，现役和退役职业橄榄球运动员中完成自杀的人数不成比例（42.3%）。文献中已充分证实，抑郁症和自杀倾向的原因多种多样，通常是多因素的且可治疗。为有风险的退休运动员提供心理健康治疗可能会减轻他们的痛苦并改善他们的生活质量。
