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Holistic life-span health outcomes among elite intercollegiate student-athletes
Shawn C Sorenson1, Russell Romano, Robin M Scholefield
1Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Context:
Competitive sports are recognized as having unique health benefits and risks, and the effect of sports on life-span health among elite athletes has received increasing attention. However, supporting scientific data are sparse and do not represent modern athletes.
Objective:
To assess holistic life-span health and health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) among current and former National Collegiate Athletic Association student-athletes (SAs).
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
A large Division I university.
Patients Or Other Participants:
Population-based sample of 496 university students and alumni (age 17-84 years), including SAs and an age-matched and sex-matched nonathlete (NA) control group.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Participants completed anonymous, self-report questionnaires. We measured the Short-Form 12 (SF-12) physical and mental component HRQL scores and cumulative lifetime experience and relative risk of treatment for joint, cardiopulmonary, and psychosocial health concerns.
Results:
Older alumni (age 43+ years) SAs reported greater joint health concerns than NAs (larger joint summary scores; P = .04; Cohen d = 0.69; probability of clinically important difference [pCID] = 77%; treatment odds ratio [OR] = 14.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.6, 126). Joint health for current and younger alumni SAs was similar to that for NAs. Older alumni reported greater cardiopulmonary health concerns than younger alumni (summary score P < .001; d = 1.05; pCID = 85%; OR = 5.8, 95% CI = 2.0, 16) and current students (P < .001; d = 2.25; pCID >99.5%; OR = 7.1, 95% CI = 3.3, 15), but the risk was similar for SAs and NAs. Current SAs demonstrated evidence of better psychosocial health (summary score P = .006; d = -0.52; pCID = 40%) and mental component HRQL (P = .008; d = 0.50; pCID = 48%) versus NAs but similar psychosocial treatment odds (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.39, 1.9). Psychosocial health and mental component HRQL were similar between alumni SAs and NAs. No differences were observed between SAs and NAs in physical component HRQL.
Conclusions:
The SAs demonstrated significant, clinically meaningful evidence of greater joint health concerns later in life, comparable cardiopulmonary health, and differences in life-span psychosocial health and HRQL profiles compared with NAs. These data provide timely evidence regarding a compelling public issue and highlight the need for further study of life-span health among modern athletes.
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