Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2025.66.309
Mortality of female and male Croatian Olympic athletes: a 1948-2016 cohort study
Vedran Radonić
; Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Merkur, Zagreb, Croatia
*
Mario Šekerija
; Croatian National Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Marijan Erceg
; Croatian Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivana Jurin
; Department for Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
Irzal Hadžibegović
; 4Department for Cardiovascular Diseases, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
Miran Martinac
; Abdominal Surgery Department, University Hospital Merkur, Zagreb, Croatia
Tomislav Letilović
; Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Merkur, Zagreb, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Aim To compare the overall mortality of Croatian male and
female Olympic athletes who represented Yugoslavia or
Croatia in the Olympic Games from 1948 to 2016 with the
mortality of the general Croatian population standardized
by age, sex, and time period.
Methods Overall mortality analysis included 652 male
and 158 female Olympians. The cause-specific analysis in
cluded 642 male Olympians; due to the small sample size,
this analysis was not possible for female Olympians. Infor
mation on causes of death was obtained from specialized
registers of countries where deaths occurred, if available.
Alternatively, data were obtained by interviews with fami
lies or acquaintances of the deceased, based on the World
Health Organization verbal autopsy principles. Croatian
general population mortality data were obtained from the
Croatian Bureau of Statistics and World Health Organiza
tion’s databases. Overall and disease-specific standardized
mortality ratios (SMR) were calculated.
Results At the endpoint of the study, 2 female and 142
male Olympians had died. Overall mortality was lower for
women (SMR 0.23; P = 0.013) and men (SMR 0.56; P < 0.001)
compared with the general population. Male Olympians
had significantly reduced mortality from cardiovascular
(SMR 0.51; P < 0.001), neoplastic (SMR 0.55; P < 0.001), re
spiratory (SMR 0.24; P = 0.003), and digestive (SMR 0.42;
P = 0.015) causes of death.
Conclusions Croatian male and female Olympians experi
ence reduced overall mortality compared with the Croatian
general population. Croatian male Olympians have reduced
cardiovascular, neoplastic, digestive, and respiratory mor
talities compared with the Croatian general population.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
352544
URI
Publication date:
22.10.2025.
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