Female soccer players and soccer players who have had a previous concussion recuperate differently from males or players without a history of concussion, new research released today at the 2008 American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes shows.
The study found that prior history of concussion and gender account for significant differences in test results following the injury. Because of these differences, the authors urge physicians and coaches to take an individualized approach to treating concussion patients.
"The results of this study suggest that physicians should not be taking a one-size-fits-all approach to treating concussions," said co-author Alexis Chiang Colvin, MD, Sports Medicine Fellow for the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "Our study shows that patients with a history of a previous concussion perform worse than patients without a previous history on neurocognitive tests taken after they sustain a concussion. Furthermore, females perform worse than males on post-concussion testing, as well."
The authors chose to examine concussion recovery patterns in soccer players due to the popularity of the sport among both genders. Also, it is a non-helmeted sport with identical rules for all participation levels for both genders. In the United States, there are between 1 and 4 million estimated sports-related concussions each year. The most common causes of concussion in soccer include, head-to-head contact, head contact with other body parts and head-to-ground contact.
A concussion is an injury to the brain that results in temporary loss of normal brain function, usually caused by a blow to the head. Concussions can affect memory, judgment, reflexes, speech, balance and coordination.