Altitude and Concussions in the NFL: Is There Really a “Mile-High” Effect?

Abstract

Abstract Purpose The literature on altitude and concussions in football shows some evidence of protective effects of living and training and playing at high altitudes. We explored the likelihood of sustaining concussions within the AFC West division, specifically comparing games hosted at high altitude in Denver versus games hosted by at low altitudes in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Kansas City. Methods Information was recorded for all regular season AFC West division games (N= 42) occurring in the 2012–2018 seasons. Altitude for each stadium was calculated using DaftLogic’s Google Sandbox. Concussion incidence for the 2012–2018 seasons was collected from PBS Frontline’s Concussion-Watch and weekly injury reports (NFL.com). Chi-square analyses compared likelihood of: concussions occurring in High Altitude versus Low Altitude, a Broncos player sustaining a concussion in High Altitude versus Low Altitude, and a non-Broncos AFC West player sustain a concussion in High Altitude versus Low Altitude. Results Chi-square analyses revealed no greater likelihood of players sustaining concussions in High Altitude versus Low Altitude (p=.35), or of Broncos (p=1.00) or non-Broncos (p=.47) AFC West players sustaining concussions in High Altitude versus Low Altitude. Conclusion Altitude is not a significant factor for increased likelihood of concussions, and popular theories such as “the mile-high effect” are not supported by the data. We found no evidence for the proposed protective factor of living and training at high altitude for Broncos team members, as they showed an equal likelihood of sustaining a concussion at high and low altitude.