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Female Soccer Players at Greater Risk of Concussions
Between male and female soccer players, it's the girls who suffer more concussions and at twice the rate of boys. The study is important since at the last count, over eight hundred thousand kids played soccer in the US. And the long-term consequences of concussions are a greater risk for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
Scientists studied high school soccer players for three academic years, following about eighty thousand male and female players, about half of each. They analyzed the data on sex differences in the number of concussions, the mechanism of the injury, treatment immediately following the injury, and the outcomes. They recorded fifteen hundred concussions. That's two percent of the players and of those, thirty seven percent were boys and sixty three percent were girls, almost twice the rate of boys. Male concussions were most often from contact with another player while female concussions most often came from nonplayer contacts.
Overall, eighty percent of players were removed from the game after injury and the odds of immediate removal were three times greater when there was an athletic trainer involved. It is unclear why female athletes are at greater risk for concussions. Maybe female players are more willing to report their injuries or it's physiological differences between the sexes.
What's clear is that adolescent soccer players may require sex specific interventions to reduce their risks when doing things such as heading the ball, especially for female athletes.
More Information
Association of Sex With Adolescent Soccer Concussion Incidence and Characteristics
In this cohort study of a high school injury surveillance project, the risk of documented SRC was 1.88 times higher among adolescent girls than adolescent boys. Whereas boys most often sustained SRC from player contact (48.4%), documented SRCs in girls were most often from equipment contact (eg, ball or goalpost [41.9%]), and boys had 1.54 greater odds of immediate removal from play and returned to play 2 days sooner than girls...
Head-injury risk higher for female soccer players, massive survey finds
Data on the rates and causes of concussion in US high-school athletes reveal striking differences between the sexes...
Concussions and Head Injuries
U.S. Soccer announced the U.S. Soccer Concussion Initiative, which provides guidelines that were implemented beginning in January 2016. US Club Soccer clarified the implementation guidelines as it relates to concussion initiatives and heading for youth players...
