title: All-cause and disease-specific mortality among male, former elite athletes: an average 50-year follow-up.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate life expectancy and mortality among former elite athletes and controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  HR analysis of cause-specific deaths sourced from the national death registry for former Finnish male endurance, team and power sports athletes (N=2363) and controls (N=1657). The median follow-up time was 50 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median life expectancy was higher in the endurance (79.1 years, 95% CI 76.6 to 80.6) and team (78.8, 78.1 to 79.8) sports athletes than in controls (72.9, 71.8 to 74.3). Compared to controls, risk for total mortality adjusted for socioeconomic status and birth cohort was lower in the endurance ((HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.79)) and team (0.80, 0.72 to 0.89) sports athletes, and slightly lower in the power sports athletes (0.93, 0.85 to 1.03). HR for ischaemic heart disease mortality was lower in the endurance (0.68, 0.54 to 0.86) and team sports (0.73, 0.60 to 0.89) athletes. HR for stroke mortality was 0.52 (0.33 to 0.83) in the endurance and 0.59 (0.40 to 0.88) in the team sports athletes. Compared to controls, the risk for smoking-related cancer mortality was lower in the endurance (HR 0.20, 0.08 to 0.47) and power sports (0.40, 0.25 to 0.66) athletes. For dementia mortality, the power sports athletes, particularly boxers, had increased risk (HR 4.20, 2.30 to 7.81).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elite athletes have 5-6 years additional life expectancy when compared to men who were healthy as young adults. Lower mortality for cardiovascular disease was in part due to lower rates of smoking, as tobacco-related cancer mortality was especially low.
authors.affiliation: Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jyrki A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kettunen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
authors.forename: Urho M
authors.initials: UM
authors.lastname: Kujala
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Hjelt Institute, Helsinki, Finland Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland University of Helsinki, Institute for Molecular Medicine (FIMM), Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jaakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaprio
authors.affiliation: Health and Social Welfare Department, City of Vantaa, Finland.
authors.forename: Heli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bäckmand
authors.affiliation: Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peltonen
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Vasa Central Hospital, Vasa, Finland Folkhälsan Research Centre, Helsinki, Finland Unit of General Practice, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Johan G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Hjelt Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarna
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002423:Cause of Death; D003704:Dementia / Q000401:mortality; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D020521:Stroke / Q000401:mortality; D016019:Survival Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Athletics; Cardiovascular epidemiology; Elite performance; Epidemiology