Former Footballers in Senegal: Health Condition and Vocational Retraining

The objective of this work was to study among former Senegalese footballers their state of health and their socio-economic situation, an expression of appreciation of their professional retraining. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study from October 2015 to April 2016. Our population consisted of former footballers who played in the Senegalese national championship in the first division or were expatriates, honoring or not a selection in the national team. The cohort consisted of 100 retired footballers, the average age was 57, the average age of sports retirement at 31.8 years, the average duration of sport at 25 years; 56% of respondents had at least one risk factor, 28% reported sports-related conditions, 77% said they did not have reconversion and / or economic difficulties, but only 18% actually expressed the wish that their children become footballers. Older age was the main reason for sports retreat (49%) but 67% of subjects continued to play sports. However, it was noted that the number of risk factors increased with advancing age and longer sporting life and that lean body mass decreased with both indicators. In addition, subjects who engaged in regular physical activity had fewer risk factors and had more lean body mass. This study confirms the positive impact of sports practice in the prevention of risk factors and recommendations have been made to improve the living conditions of former athletes.