Former Collision Sport Athletes Have Higher Blood Pressure Than Former Contact Or Non-contact Athletes

Participation in collision sports has been linked to later-life neuropathological conditions and cognitive decline, likely secondary to repetitive head impacts during sport. Recently, elevated blood pressure has been noted in middle-aged former National Football League players, suggesting health impacts could exist beyond neurocognition. Sports participation has numerous lifelong positive physical, mental, and emotional benefits; however, the effects of collision sports exposure on cardiovascular function in non-professional athletes remains to be elucidated. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess blood pressure in former athletes by sport type. METHODS: As part of a larger study on post-sports career trajectories, we recruited 65 middle-aged former athletes who were classified as Non-Contact (N: 15, Female: 6, Age: 49.9 ± 7.9, HT: 1.67 ± 0.09 m, WT: 82.3 ± 13.7 kg), Contact (N:40, Female: 27, Age: 51.5 ± 6.8, HT: 1.77 ± 0.14 m, WT: 88.0 ± 26.1 kg), or Collision (N: 10, Male: 10, Age: 51.5 ± 8.6, HT: 1.78 ± 0.08 m, WT: 96.4 ± 28.2 kg) sport athletes. Resting blood pressure was recorded using standard ACSM guidelines. Separate One-Way ANOVAs compared systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between groups while controlling for body weight in each analysis. RESULTS: There was a main effect of group for SBP (F = 3.746, p = 0.029). Collision sport athletes had higher SBP (144 ± 14 mmHg) than both Contact (131 ± 18 mmHg, p = 0.009, d = 0.81) and Non-Contact (125 ± 16 mmHg, p = 0.034, d = 1.22) groups. There was no main effect of group for DBP (F = 2.800, p = 0.069) (Non-Contact: 79 ± 9 mmHg; Contact: 85 ± 10 mmHg; Collision: 88 ± 10 mmHg). DISCUSSION: Consistent with emerging findings from retired NFL players, our results suggest that middle-aged former non-professional collision sport athletes (Football, Wrestling) have significantly higher SBP than former Contact and Non-Contact athletes. Indeed, 90% of former Collision sport athletes had stage 1 hypertension (SBP >130 mmHg) and 60% were stage 2 hypertensive (SBP > 140 mmHg). As hypertension is a known predictor of cognitive decline in older adults, medical management of blood pressure and lifestyle interventions may be clinically feasible approaches to reduce later-life neurocognitive deficits in former collision sport athletes. Supported by: NIH