Sex differences in the long-term neuropsychological outcome of mild traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate possible sex differences in neuropsychological functioning among patients following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI).


METHODS
Retrospective records analysis of the neuropsychological test results of 102 participants with head injury, including 62 males and 40 females.


RESULTS
A multivariate analysis of variance indicated that females and males performed similarly on neuropsychological tests, on average, approximately 2 years after minor head trauma. A sex-by-age interaction effect was found on the Category and Trail Making A Tests, with a pattern similar to those obtained in a previous research.


CONCLUSIONS
Although past research has found that females develop more TBI-related neuropsychological deficits than males in the immediate post-injury period, the present study found that, overall, sex differences in the performance of patients with mild TBI on a variety of neuropsychological tests were insignificant. More investigation into the sex-by-age interaction effect appears warranted.
Tsushima
William T
WT
Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Straub Clinic and Hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. wtsushima@straub.net
Lum
Mark
M
Geling
Olga
O
D000328:Adult; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices