Study Estimates 75% CTE in Deceased Former NFL Players — SkimNews
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- JAMA Network Open published the first comprehensive study of CTE prevalence among deceased former NFL players, estimating that 75% of those who died from 2008 through 2023 had the disease.
- Boston University, Mass General Brigham and the Concussion & CTE Foundation analyzed 2,362 cases by combining 396 donated brains with National Death Index records for 1,966 non-donors.
- CTE was found in nearly 94% of donated brains, but donors were more likely to be white, to die younger and to have longer NFL careers than non-donors; researchers said accounting for that selection difference still left estimated prevalence high.
- Deceased former NFL players are the only population to which the estimate applies, so researchers said it neither predicts prevalence among living NFL players nor addresses college and youth football.
- CTE is diagnosable only after death and is classified in stages I through IV; many cases may have been early-stage and symptom-free when players died, while the study did not establish whether symptoms were CTE-related.
- Julia Gallini, the study's lead author, called the nearly 75% estimate concerning and said more effort was needed to support families, diagnose CTE during life and treat CTE-related symptoms.
- NFL said it continuously strives to reduce concussions and head impacts and encouraged former players to use its health resources; the NFL Players Association called such studies critical to understanding football's long-term effects.
Why it matters: For families and clinicians, the study pairs a 75% estimate among deceased former players with CTE in nearly 94% of donated brains, while leaving the diagnosis gap intact because CTE is diagnosed only after death. Its authors call for family support, in-life diagnosis and symptom treatment, but offer no prevalence estimate for living NFL players.
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