The Neuropsychological Differences of Concussions in Female Soccer Players When Compared to Male Soccer Players
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Authors
Austell, André A.
Issue Date
2020
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
"Sports Concussion","ImPACT","College Athletes","Concussion Assessment","Student Athletes","Neuropsychological Testing"
Alternative Title
Abstract
Sports concussions have received an increasing amount of attention in the media over the past decade. The concerns over the short and long term effects of concussion have trickled down from professional sports to collegiate, amateur, and youth sports. Research focusing on concussions has increased dramatically as a response to concerns about the health effects of concussions in sport. Much of the research has focused on helmeted sports predominantly played by males such as football, thus lacking female participants. There is a need to investigate concussions in female athletes to increase the accuracy of diagnosis, return to play decisions, and ensure the overall health of female athletes. This study analyzed de-identified ImPACT data for 77 NCAA Division 1 student-athletes to explore the relationships between sex and PCSS total number of symptoms post-concussion, sex, and ImPACT composite scores 24-48 hours after injury, and sex when comparing ImPACT composite scores 24-48 hours after injury to athletes baseline scores. Analysis revealed that female soccer players performance on the VIMC index 24-48 hours after injury (Mdn = 73.50) was statistically worse than their baseline VIMC index performance (Mdn = 81.00), T = 157, p < .05, r = -0.34. Female players performance on the RTC index 24-48 hours after injury (Mdn = 0.595) was statically worse than their baseline RTC index performance (Mdn = .56), T = 131 , p < .05, r = -0.24 . No other changes were found for either group for PCSS TSC scores post-concussion, post-injury ImPACT composite scores, and when comparing postinjury ImPACT composite scores to baseline scores.