Sex comparisons in neuropsychological functioning and reported symptoms following a sports-related concussion among high school athletes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the neuropsychological functioning and symptoms of female and male high school athletes following a single concussion during the school year. The baseline test scores of the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) of 309 concussed athletes (169 females, 221 males) in varied sports were obtained. After a sport-related concussion, the athletes were re-administered the ImPACT, on the average, 7.25 days after the injury. MANCOVA compared the ImPACT baseline scores, post-concussion scores, and baseline-to-post-concussion changes of the female and male athletes, with p set at 0.01. The only significant sex comparison found females performing better on baseline visual motor speed (p < 0.001). Otherwise, no sex differences were found in baseline test scores, post-concussion scores, and baseline-to-post-concussion changes. The findings tentatively suggest that there are insignificant sex differences in the consequences of sport-related concussion after a week post-injury. Future studies on sex comparisons after a concussion are needed focusing on the acute and sub-acute phases of the recovery period.

Keywords:

• Concussion
• neuropsychological tests
• sex characteristics
• sports

Acknowledgement

The content of this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the National Institutes of Health. Alyssa Kameoka participated in the Hawaii Pacific Health Summer Student Research Program while she assisted in this research project. There are no competing financial interests that exist for any of the five authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially supported by the National Institutes of Health. So Yung Choi and Hyeong Jun Ahn were partially supported by [grant numbers U54MD00760131 and U54GM104944].