Leisure-time physical activity is associated with better health and a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. It is unclear if this association is also present with a high level of physical activity as it is found in professional athletes. In a population-based retrospective cohort study, we compared the survival experience of all soccer players participating for Germany in international matches between 1908 and 2006 to that of the general population. To summarize survival experience, we calculated cumulative relative survival ratios (RSRs) from a life table. We included data of 812 international players, of which 428 (=52.7%) died during follow-up. In all 13 intervals, cumulative observed survival was smaller than cumulative expected survival, resulting in cumulative RSRs being <1. The cumulative RSRs are statistically significantly different from 1 in all but the last interval. This impaired survival experience of the internationals translates into a loss of median residual lifetime of 1.9 years [95% confidence interval: 0.6, 3.2] years at the entry time into the cohort. This loss is mainly driven by the mortality of internationals from the earlier half of the observation period. Reasons for this might be poorer medical care in former times, internationals being killed in action during World War II, and a changing distribution of causes of death during the 20th century.
© 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.