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WEDNESDAY, Sept. 16, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
Many former National Football League (NFL) players who took opioid painkillers early in their retirement still used them nine years later, a new study finds.<\/p>\n
The researchers also found that those who continued to use opioids were more likely to report moderate to severe depressive symptoms and low mental health<\/a>-related quality of life.<\/p>\n Long-term opioid use among former NFL players may be due to a number of factors, said study co-author Zachary Mannes, a recent graduate of the doctoral program in clinical psychology at the University of Florida.<\/p>\n “It’s hard to imagine that bodily pain<\/a> doesn’t contribute to continued opioid use, as retired NFL athletes may rely on opioids in an effort to manage chronic pain<\/a> that has developed as a result of an accumulation of orthopedic injuries during an NFL career,” Mannes said in a university news release.<\/p>\n Previous research has shown that NFL players are often overprescribed opioids to control pain<\/a> and that many retired professional football players continue using them.<\/p>\n In this study, the researchers interviewed 90 former NFL athletes who’d taken part in a 2010 study examining the prevalence and risk factors of opioid use and misuse among NFL retirees.<\/p>\n The investigators found that nearly 50% of the former players who reported using opioids in 2010 were still using them in 2019. About 60% of those who used opioids in 2010 reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms in the past week, and had lower scores on a measure of mental health<\/a>-related quality of life.<\/p>\n Opioids can be effective for acute pain<\/a> control, but their use isn’t recommended for chronic pain<\/a>. Long-term use can lead to greater pain<\/a> sensitivity and reduce the likelihood of chronic pain<\/a> recovery, explained Mannes, now a postdoctoral fellow at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.<\/p>\n The former NFL players might also be using opioids as a way to cope with mental health issues.<\/p>\n “It is possible that NFL retirees with depressive symptoms are more likely to self-medicate their mental health symptoms and emotional pain through use of opioids,” Mannes said.<\/p>\n He added that medical professionals working with retired NFL athletes should monitor opioid use and consider alternative pain management<\/a> strategies, such as exercise<\/a>, physical rehabilitation and psychotherapy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The study will be published in the October issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n — Robert Preidt<\/p>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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