Researchers are "launching a new smartphone app" that will enable former NFLers and the public to "participate together in a clinical study to assess the impact" of on-field injuries on the long-term health of players, according to Ron Winslow of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. TeamStudy will use "questionnaires and smartphone capabilities such as recording steps, distance walked and heart rate to collect data" relating to cognitive health. As part of the study, researchers want "members of the public to download the app and participate as a control group." The effort is part of a "larger Football Players Health Study at Harvard University, a project announced three years ago and funded by" the NFLPA. The app and broader study "are looking not only at head injuries but at a wider spectrum of health issues." Nearly 3,000 former players "are enrolled in the larger Harvard study and considered likely to participate in the app research." TeamStudy Principal Investigator Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone said that features of the app will seek data regarding pain, mobility, heart health and cognitive problems. Other topics are "likely to be added" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/18).
