Abstract:
Objective: Researchers have reported that sport-related concussions might be experienced differently by women than men. The purpose of this study was to examine whether young women athletes with a history of one previous concussion differed on their preseason neuropsychological test performance or symptom reporting. Participants and Methods: Participants were 240 young women who completed preseason testing with ImPACT Version 2.0. Participants were sorted into two groups: zero (n=207) and one previous concussion (n=33). Their most recent concussion occurred between 1-60 months prior to the baseline evaluation (M=21.2, SD=18.7). Results: The groups were not significantly different in age or education. MANOVA was conducted using the Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Reaction Time, Processing Speed, and Impulse Control composite scores as dependent variables and group membership as the independent variable. There was no significant multivariate effect or any significant main effects for individual scores based on exploratory follow-up analyses (parametric and nonparametric). A subsample of 25 women with one previous concussion (sustained 4-48 months prior) was selected for further analysis and matched precisely on age, education, sport, and school to 25 women athletes with no previous concussion. Again, MANOVA revealed no significant multivariate effect, nor were there any significant main effects for individual scores on exploratory follow-up analyses. There was a trend toward previously concussed women in the subsample reporting more symptoms on the Post-Concussion Scale. Conclusions: Similar to the literature with men, in this study there was no obvious measurable effect of one previous concussion on women’s preseason