75% Estimated CTE Prevalence in Deceased NFL Players — SkimNews
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- JAMA Network Open published the first comprehensive study estimating that 75% of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had CTE.
- The 2,362-case analysis combined brains from 396 donors with National Death Index records for 1,966 deceased non-donors; nearly 94% of the donated brains had CTE.
- Researchers' adjustment for differential brain donation found that CTE prevalence among deceased former NFL players remained high, even though donors were more likely to be white, to die younger and to have longer NFL careers.
- An August paper by some of the same researchers estimated that 1 in 4 former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE, compared with nearly 75% in the new study.
- The study did not establish whether any players had CTE-related symptoms, and researchers said many cases may have been early-stage and possibly symptom-free at death.
- The estimate covers only deceased former NFL players, does not predict prevalence among living NFL players and does not address college or youth football players.
- The NFL Players Association called such studies critical to understanding football's long-term effects; the NFL said it continually seeks to reduce concussions and head impacts and urged concerned former players to seek treatment.
Why it matters: The 75% estimate gives families and the NFL a concrete reason to expand efforts to diagnose CTE during life and support symptomatic former players. But with CTE currently diagnosable only after death—and no prevalence estimate for living or youth players—the study leaves major gaps in both research and care.
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