Current Physical and Mental Health of Former Collegiate Athletes

Abstract

Background:There is a dearth of research on the current health of former collegiate athletes.Purpose:To examine the current health and related correlates in a cohort of former collegiate athletes who played in a diverse range of men’s and women’s sports with various levels of contact.Study Design:Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.Methods:Former collegiate athletes (N = 3657) were asked to complete an online questionnaire addressing sports history, medical history, and demographics. The questionnaire also included the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey (VR-12), which yielded 2 composite scores for physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) health. The VR-12 PCS and MCS scores were compared with published US normative data using t tests and analyses of variance.Results:Mean PCS and MCS scores of the 797 respondents with complete data (21.9% of target sample; average, 14.5 years since last played collegiate sport) were 53.0 ± 6.1 and 51.7 ± 9.4, respectively. When stratified by age and sex, PCS and MCS scores were similar to normative scores in the United States. Lower PCS scores were associated with sustaining ≥3 concussions, playing in collision sports during college, and sustaining a career-ending injury (all, P < .001). No association was found between concussion and MCS scores (P = .06). Among former collegiate athletes, prevalent medical conditions included anxiety (16.2%), hypercholesterolemia/high cholesterol (10.6%), and depression (10.4%). Additionally, 5.8% screened positive for alcohol dependence, and 5.8% screened positive for disordered eating (eg, binge eating, purging). These findings were more prevalent than those reported by the World Health Organization as representative of the US population. Conversely, there was a lower prevalence of depression, bipolar disorders, and attention deficit disorder, with or without hyperactivity (ADD/ADHD), than in the World Health Organization US population data sample.Conclusion:Former collegiate athletes appear similar to the general US population on many aspects of mental and physical health. However, observed health deficits associated with previous sports injuries warrant ongoing monitoring of the health and well-being of former collegiate athletes.

A systematic review of potential long-term effects of sport-related concussion

“…Didehbani and colleagues studied cognitively intact former NFL athletes and found greater depression symptoms compared with age and intelligence quotient (IQ)-matched subjects 35. In a sample of 797 former collegiate athletes (all sports), approximately 39% of whom reported one or more prior concussions, their rates of self-reported mental health and cognitive problems were as follows: depression=10.4%, anxiety=16.2%, alcohol dependence=5.8%, substance use=2.9% and cognitive problems=3.8% 30. This sample also completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to screen for depression.…”

Barriers to Cooking and Culinary Confidence Among College Athletes

“…53 A recent study showed that 44.4% of former Division 1 NCAA athletes 22 to 51 years of age from the same university were overweight or obese. 54 Nutrition knowledge has been positively associated with better diet quality among athletes. 55 The exploration of culinary attitudes, culinary confidence, and barriers to cooking among college athletes is limited.…”

“…32 Again, there are numerous findings that suggest frequent intake of fast food can lead to poor diet quality, 33 weight gain and insulin resistance, 34 and a higher BMI 35 and former athletes are no exception. 54…”

Factorial validity and measurement invariance of the Perceived Susceptibility to Sport Injury scale

“…Existing sport injury risk assessment literature (Hawkins & Fuller, ; Maffulli et al., ; Freckleton & Pizzari, ), along with longitudinal injury surveillance and epidemiological data (Hootman et al., ; Doherty et al., ; Palmer‐Green et al., ), demonstrates that sport injuries are common among athletes across levels of competition. Sport injuries can elicit a range of psychological consequences to the injured athletes (Wiese‐Bjornstal et al., ; Galambos et al., ; Wiese‐Bjornstal, ; Kamphoff et al., ), which may in turn impact their return to play decisions (Podlog et al., ; Shrier, ), long‐term health and well‐being (Kerr et al., ; Roessler et al., ), and in the case of student‐athletes, academic progression (Klieber & Brock, ; Moreau et al., ). Despite research advancements made regarding the psychological consequences of sport injury, surprisingly little is known about the psychological factors associated with injury occurrence (Appaneal & Habif, ).…”