Participation in American football is associated with increased rates of Parkinson's disease

By Minhong Kim. This article was initially published in our Concussion Update newsletter; please consider subscribing.

A cross-sectional study published in JAMA Network Open investigated the association between participation in American football and Parkinson’s disease. Ultimately, the researchers conclude that in this study, participation in organized American football was associated with higher rates of reported parkinsonism or Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.

Authors Hannah J. Bruce et al. examined data from the Fox Insight online study in which participants reported whether they received a Parkinson’s disease or parkinsonism diagnosis by a healthcare professional. The authors included 1875 men who had played organized sports of any kind. These men were divided into two groups: individuals who played football and individuals who played other organized sports. 

The researchers found that a “history of playing football was associated with higher odds of having a parkinsonism or PD diagnosis.” Additionally, the researchers found that “among football players, longer duration of football play and higher level of play were associated with higher odds of having parkinsonism or PD.”