Female athletes and younger competitors take longer to recover from concussions, according to new research that suggests physicians and athletic trainers need to take sex and age into account when dealing with the head injury.
The study, led by Tracey Covassin of Michigan State University, found females performed worse than males on memory tests and had more symptoms after suffering a concussion. The findings also indicate high school athletes performed worse than college athletes on verbal and memory tests, and some of the younger athletes still were impaired weeks after their injuries.
"While previous research suggests younger athletes and females may take longer to recover from a concussion, little was known about the interactive effects of age and sex on symptoms, cognitive testing and postural stability," said Covassin, a certified athletic trainer. "This study confirms that age and sex have an impact on recovery, and future research should focus on developing treatments tailored to those differences."
The study, published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, was funded by a two-year grant from the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment. The findings were based on MSU researchers’ examinations of nearly 300 athletes from multiple states over two years who had suffered concussions.
Between 2001 and 2005, more than 150,000 sport-related concussions occurred among teenagers, federal statistics show.
"We need to raise awareness that yes, female athletes do get concussions," she said. "Too often, when we speak with parents and coaches, they overlook the fact that in comparable sports, females are concussed more than males."