Lower extremity osteoarthritis is associated with lower health-related quality of life among retired professional footballers

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive characteristics of retired and current professional footballers.

	Retired players (N = 396)			Current players
	Total	No OA	OA	(N = 361)
Age (in years; mean ± SD)	36 ± 6	36 ± 6	37 ± 5	25 ± 4
Height (in cm; mean ± SD)	181 ± 7	181 ± 7	181 ± 6	180 ± 8
Weight (in kg; mean ± SD)	82 ± 9	82 ± 9	83 ± 10	75 ± 9
Career duration (in years; mean ± SD)	11 ± 5	11 ± 5	12 ± 5	7 ± 4
Level of play (top league; %)	81	78	87	52
Educational level (%)
No schooling completed	0	0	2	1
Nursery/Elementary school	3	3	2	6
High school	28	31	23	48
Vocational/technical school	8	7	9	14
College, university or equivalent	61	59	64	31
Retirement duration (in years; mean ± SD)	5 ± 4	5 ± 4	6 ± 4
Forced retirement (%)	29	24	39
Employed (%)	89	87	91

N: number of participants; No OA: group without lower extremity osteoarthritis; OA: group with lower extremity osteoarthritis; SD: standard deviation; cm: centimetres; kg: kilograms; %: percentage

Table 2. Health-related quality of life among retired and current professional footballers.

		Retired players
		No OA	OA	Current players
Severe injuries (%)	No	30	9
	Yes	70	91
Surgeries (%)	No	53	24
	Yes	47	76
Global Physical Health*		52.7	47.6	52.6
Global Mental Health*		52.2	49.9	51.7

No OA: group without lower extremity osteoarthritis; OA: group with lower extremity osteoarthritis; %: percentage; *: a lower score indicate a lower level of global health