Concussions can last longer for females
DEAR DOCTOR: My granddaughter plays soccer, and I’ve long been worried about the risk of concussion. Now I read that they last longer in girls. Why? DEAR READER:
Concussions during soccer can occur from a direct blow, such as when the head hits a soccer ball, or from a hit to the body in which the head is jarred.
One recent study assessed the effects on middle school and high school athletes who had sustained a concussion in the years 2011 through 2013. The physician researchers assessed whether the athletes had a history of headaches, learning disabilities or mental illness and whether they had suffered a loss of consciousness or problems with memory after the concussion. They also measured the athletes’ symptom score (impact score) to assess the severity of the concussion and evaluated the length of days the athletes had symptoms after the head injury.
On the initial impact score, the 102 female athletes had a slightly higher score (17) than their 110 male counterparts (14). The male athletes had the greatest number of concussions from football, while the female athletes had the greatest proportion from soccer.
What was most striking about this study was the length of time it took for the athletes to recover to the baseline status. In the males, the median time was 11 days, while for females it was 28 days.
In another study, the predominant causes among the male and female students were football and soccer, respectively. Overall, male athletes were more likely than female athletes to recover within one week; female athletes were more likely to take longer than 19 days. Player-to-player contact was the most common mechanism of injury for all sports.
It has been hypothesized that concussions last longer in females because they generally have decreased musculature in the neck compared to males. This may create less ability to absorb shock, leading to a greater acceleration of the brain within the skull. Other contributors may be the higher rates of headaches, depression and anxiety in adolescent females compared to males, which may contribute to a prolonged recovery from a concussion.