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The overall annual death rate is lower among former NBA players than among the general population of the United States
The analysis of the data, led by a researcher of the UPCT, allows to make estimations on the life expectancy of the players in function of the stature and the ethnic group taking into account the year of debut in the NBA
The former NBA players and African American stature, in general, die before the white players and shorter stature according to the findings of a study conducted by Spanish researchers and published in Applied Sciences on 1 February.
Despite this, the annual mortality rate is lower among former NBA players than among the general population of the United States, also according to this study.
The work, one of the largest in terms of sample and unique in the application of the methodology to these data, analyzes a total of 3,985 players who participated in the professional basketball league since its birth in 1946 until April 2015, 481 they are still active.
Of the total, 687 had died (19.1%) before April 15, 2015. The research uses statistical models for survival analysis where various control variables related to physiological, demographic and competitive characteristics of the players are considered. .
The study was led by José Antonio Martínez García, from the Department of Business Economics of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena;
and Martí Casals, from the Sports and Physical Activity Studies Center of the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) and the Sports Science Department of FC Barcelona - Barça Innovation Hub.
It has also had the collaboration of Klaus Langohr, Department of Statistics and Operational Research of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC);
and of the journalist Julián Felipo, of the basketball section of Mundo Deportivo.
The news of deaths of former players under 60 years of intriguing happened during the year 2015. Between February and September of that year they lost their lives Moses Malone (60), Darryl Dawkins (58), Jerome Kersey (52) , Jack Haley (51), Christian Welp (50) and Anthony Mason (48), which generated a certain state of concern among some groups of players and ex-players.
"I always tell my wife that you will not see many men of seven feet (2.13) on the street with 75 years," said the legendary Larry Bird, who was champion with the Boston Celtics.
Another historical pivot like Bill Walton would add that "we athletes are our worst enemy because we do not listen to our bodies, we do not listen to doctors and we do not realize until it's too late".
The NBA and the players' association reacted in 2016 by creating a plan to perform checks on retired players.
Since 2013, a study analyzed the structure and cardiac functions of 526 active players in the templates.
Previously, and coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the NBA, in 1996, the league already conducted a study on mortality that covered a total of 2,810 players.
After analyzing the 3,985 players who participated in the NBA from its birth in 1946 until April 2015, the results of this study suggest that height and ethnicity are associated with mortality.
The highest and African-American players, in general, die earlier than the smaller, white players.
In addition, this study shows that NBA players have a lower annual mortality rate than the general population.
This research also reflects, especially in African-American players, the consequences of the 'healthy worker effect', that is, the tendency of the active and employed population to show more favorable mortality rates than the general population.
Likewise, the effects of wage equalization between African American and white players in the NBA, much higher than in the general labor market, are also recognized.
The conclusions of the work can be useful to design strategies in health plans and in the criteria of allocation of resources in relation to health policies.
In addition, it provides estimates of the life expectancy of players based on height and ethnicity considering the year of debut in the NBA.
The data regarding height and ethnicity, key to the final result, were obtained from multiple sources with a validation process that involved a double manual and independent coding by the research team.
The study has been published respecting the codes of 'Open Science' to give public and open access, with criteria of transparency and allowing the reproducibility of the data
Source: UPCT
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