The rate of female participation in high school sports has drastically increased over the past fifteen years. As female sport participation continues to increase at the high school level, the possibility of more females sustaining sport-related injuries becomes an issue. Research studies have shown that females have a higher incidence rate of sport-related concussions than males (Covassin et al., 2003; Powell et al., 1999). Whether male or female, there is a need to properly diagnose and manage concussion in high school athletes.
While investigating concussion symptoms in male and female athletes using a national sample of high schools, researchers compared the total number of symptoms reported by sex and the prevalence of each reported symptom among male and female athletes. Researchers believed that females would report a greater number of symptoms, have longer symptom duration, and take longer to return back to competition.
Over a two year period, a total of 812 concussions were reported among high school athletes. There were 391 concussions (283 males, 108 females) reported in the first year and 421 concussions (327 males, 94 females) in the second year. The most commonly reported symptom in the first year was headache (40% among males, 44% among females). When comparing symptoms by sex, results showed that males report amnesia and confusion more frequently than females. The second year yielded similar results (males reported amnesia and confusion more often than females), along with females reporting drowsiness and sensitivity to noise more often than males.
These findings are insightful and may provide some benefit to the overall management of concussion at the high school level. Male and female athletes seemed to report different types of symptoms after sustaining a concussion. Male athletes reported more cognitive symptoms, while female athletes reported more neurobehavioral and somatic symptoms.
References
Frommer, L., Gurka, K., Cross, K., Ingersoll, C., Comstock, R., & Saliba, S. (2011). Sex differences in concussion symptoms of high school athletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 6(1), 76-84.
Dr. Brandon Spradley is the Director of Continuing Education at the United States Sports Academy. He can be reached at bspradley@ussa.edu.