Concussion mends differently in men, women

PITTSBURGH, July 11 (UPI) -- Female soccer players and players with a previous concussion recuperate differently than males or players who never had a concussion, U.S. researchers say.

Co-author Dr. Alexis Chiang Colvin, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, says the study found that prior history of concussion and gender account for significant differences in test results following the injury.

"The study suggests that physicians should not be taking a one-size-fits-all approach to treating concussions," Colvin says in a statement. "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 both genders.

The study looked at 234 soccer players -- 61 percent female, 39 percent male -- ranging in age from 8 to 24, who were given neuropsychological tests that measured attention, memory, processing speed and reaction time after their concussion.

The findings were presented to the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.