The role of concussion history and gender in recovery from soccer-related concussion.
BACKGROUND
This study was designed to investigate differences in recovery in male and female soccer athletes.


OBJECTIVE
Soccer players with a history of concussion will perform worse on neurocognitive testing than players without a history of concussion. Furthermore, female athletes will demonstrate poorer performance on neurocognitive testing than male athletes.


METHODS
Cohort study (prognosis): Level of evidence, 2.


METHODS
Computer-based neuropsychological testing using reaction time, memory, and visual motor-speed composite scores of the ImPACT test battery was performed postconcussion in soccer players ranging in age from 8 to 24 years (N = 234; 141 females, 93 males). A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to examine group differences in neurocognitive performance between male and female athletes with and without a history of concussion.


RESULTS
Soccer players with a history of at least 1 previous concussion performed significantly worse on ImPACT than those who had not sustained a prior concussion (F = 2.92, P =.03). In addition, female soccer players performed worse on neurocognitive testing (F = 2.72, P =.05) and also reported more symptoms (F = 20.1, P =.00001) than male soccer players. There was no significant difference in body mass index between male and female players (F =.04, P =.85).


CONCLUSIONS
A history of concussion and gender may account for significant differences in postconcussive neurocognitive test scores in soccer players and may play a role in determining recovery. These differences do not appear to reflect differences in mass between genders and may be related to other gender-specific factors that deserve further study.
Colvin
Alexis Chiang
AC
Department of Orthopaedics, Mount Sinai Medical Center, 5 East 98th St, Box 1188, New York, NY 10029, USA. alexis.colvin@mountsinai.org
Mullen
Jimmy
J
Lovell
Mark R
MR
West
Robin Vereeke
RV
Collins
Micky W
MW
Groh
Megan
M
D000293:Adolescent; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012737:Sex Factors; D012916:Soccer / Q000293:injuries*; D055815:Young Adult