Dementia was common among the former NFL players, who also were diagnosed with CTE, after donating their brains for research. File Photo by Mark Black/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Nearly 25% of all ex-NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, according to a study published Tuesday.

The study was published in the British Medical Journal by researchers from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston University and other institutions.

Researchers worked to determine the range of possible prevalence of the degenerative brain disease at death among former NFL players and examine the link between CTE severity and risk of dementia.

More than 90% of the samples with stage IV CTE, the most advanced form of the disease, also were diagnosed with dementia.