NAKO SoccHealth Study: interim results after six months

The SoccHealth Study is NAKO’s research project on the health status of former professional footballers in cooperation with the German Football Association, the German Football League, the German Employers’ Liability Insurance Association and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The initial interim results six months after the official launch are positive – despite coronavirus restrictions and increased hygiene and safety measures.

By the end of September, over 170 former professionals aged between 40 and 69 had registered as study participants, including 27 women. This means that more than 1/3 of the subjects to be recruited have already been reached. The series of examinations and interviews lasting several hours have already been carried out with 107 of them at one of the NAKO study centres. 58 of these 107 have also taken part in the whole-body MRI examination.

In contrast to the German National Cohort (NAKO), for whose participants the study centre at their place of residence is decisive, the former professionals can decide for themselves at which location or study centre they would like to be examined. In the popularity ranking to date, the Essen study centre (with 30 examinations) is in the lead, followed by Mannheim (21) and Augsburg (19). In all three centres, the former professionals can also take part in a whole-body magnetic resonance imaging scan.

More information

SoccHealth-Study

The football project “SoccHealth health status of ex-professional footballers” is investigating how physical stress during the sporting careers of professional footballers affects their health in middle and old age. SoccHealth is a study sponsored by Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB, German Football Association), Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL, German Football League), Verwaltungsberufsgenossenschaft (VBG, Employer’s Liability Insurance Association) and Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which is being conducted by the German National Cohort (NAKO).

For this study, up to 500 former professional football players will be examined and asked about their health behaviour. Based on the extensive examination programme (incl. MRI examination) and data set of over 205,000 participants, the German National Cohort (NAKO) offers a unique opportunity to analyse the risk of chronic diseases among ex-professionals and compare it with the general population.

Press contact:

Dr. Friederike Fellenberg
NAKO Gesundheitsstudie
Head of Project and Science Communication
Am Taubenfeld 21/2
69123 Heidelberg
Germany
Phone.: +49 6221 42620-62
E-mail: friederike.fellenberg@nako.de

German National Cohort (NAKO)

The German National Cohort (NAKO Gesundheitsstudie) is the largest long-term population study in Germany. Since 2014, over 205,000 randomly selected people have been medically examined and asked about their lifestyle habits in 18 study centres. At the beginning of the study, the participants were aged between 20 and 69.

The German National Cohort (NAKO) is a prospective epidemiological cohort study. The researchers observe a large group, a so-called cohort, of healthy, ill or formerly ill people over a long period of time. The aim is to use scientific analyses of the participants’ data to investigate the frequency and causes of common diseases such as cancer, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases, to identify risk factors and to show ways of effective prevention and early detection.

The research project is supported by 26 organisations. Scientists from universities, the Helmholtz Association, the Leibniz Association and other research institutes in Germany are working together in a nationwide network. The study is being carried out by the NAKO e.V. association. It is financed by public funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Helmholtz Association and the participating federal states.