Gender differences in outcome following pediatric concussion

Abstract

Context Concussive injuries result in various somatic, cognitive, and mental health alterations which can negatively influence academic and vocational performance. Research demonstrates that gender may moderate concussion recovery, with females appearing to experience more severe and more protracted symptoms than males. However, we are just beginning to understand gender-based differences in concussion recovery, particularly during development. Accordingly, the purpose of our investigation was to advance the extant knowledge by examining the role of gender in concussion recovery in a pediatric population. Methods Data were collected from a local pediatric sports medicine clinic. Participants (8-18 years) who sustained concussions during the 2017-2018 school years were examined. Outcome measures of somatic (Rivermead Post-concussion Symptom Questionnaire), cognitive (CogState Brain Injury Battery), and mental health (Beck Depression Inventory-Youth) symptoms were analyzed. Key demographic variables (e.g., age, SES, medical history) and injury characteristics (e.g., time since injury, number of prior concussion) were controlled for in the statistical analyses. Results Preliminary findings indicated a significant gender difference in selfreported somatic symptoms (p < 0.05), with females (M = 5.3, SD = 3.8) reporting greater symptom scores on the Rivermead Post-concussion Symptom Questionnaire than males (M = 2.8, SD = 2.5). In contrast, no significant differences were observed for any metric of cognition or mental health (ps >= 0.15). Conclusions Our findings corroborate evidence that concussed females report greater clinical symptoms than do concussed males. Importantly, no gender differences were observed in terms of cognition or mental health. Thus, differences in concussion symptom scales may not be useful proxies of cognitive or mental health. Future researchers and clinicians should go beyond concussion symptom scales to gain a more accurate understanding of gender differences, if any, following concussion. DA