A new study estimates that 74.5 percent of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a neurodegenerative brain disease frequently linked to high-impact sports.
Study Findings and Methodology
Researchers at Boston University, Mass General Brigham, and the Concussion & CTE Foundation published the study in JAMA Network Open. The cross-sectional analysis examined 2,362 former NFL players who died during the 15-year timeframe.
The research revealed that 93.5 percent of players who were brain donors with neuropathologic evaluation had CTE. Following adjustments for differential brain donation, the team calculated the estimated prevalence of CTE neuropathology among all 2,362 decedents at 74.5 percent.
The authors emphasized that these results apply strictly to deceased NFL players and cannot predict CTE prevalence in living athletes. Furthermore, the study did not examine the presence of CTE in college or youth football participants.
Context and Future Detection
Some of the same researchers released a paper in August estimating that 1 in 4 former NFL players who passed away between 2016 and 2021 had CTE.
Currently, CTE can only be diagnosed after death, although work toward developing a test for living individuals is ongoing, as noted by ESPN’s Samantha Surendran.
Lead author Julia Gallini described the 74.5 percent estimate as concerning, stating that action must be taken to support families, diagnose the disease during life, and treat its related symptoms.
