Of all the possible causes for concussion in females, the one mentioned most often is that females are thought to have more concussions because they “report it more” than do males. That is neither the problem nor the cause. A problem is that females don’t report concussions as much as they should. Another is that focusing on reporting frequency diverts attention from determining actual physical causes of female concussion.
Studies have shown that females do not report concussions enough. Athletes are athletes: they want to keep playing. To think otherwise with regard to females is condescending and disrespectful. See for yourself. Here are some instances showing how much females underreport concussions and concussion symptoms.
Fact: Girls don’t report concussions as much as they should.
1) Journal of Trauma Nurses study
A study released in the September/October 2016 issue of the Journal of Trauma Nurses included 77 participants from high school. It included 14 sports. [1][2] Of those, 31 participants reported that they thought they had sustained a concussion. Of that group, ten chose not to report the concussion to the athletic trainer. Concussion education had been provided to 66% of the participants, but appeared to have no impact on reporting. The researchers call for increased education about concussion risks to encourage females to report their concussions.
2) UW Study on middle-school girls soccer players
This excellent UW four-year study of 351 elite soccer players found this result:
58% of study participants continued to play with symptoms.
That’s an incredibly high number. The researcher’s recommendations encourage more training to reduce this percentage. Here are the conclusions from the report.
“Concussion rates in young female soccer players are greater than those reported in older age groups, and most of those concussed report playing with symptoms. Heading the ball is a frequent precipitating event. Awareness of recommendations to not play and seek medical attention is lacking for this age group.”
3) Abby Wambach Concussion in April 2013
This was quite the story. She had a concussion but remained in the game. It was very controversial and much discussion ensued. I believe this shows that females have the same drive and the same pressure to play when injured.
Coming to Their Senses: U.S. Soccer finally admits that Abby Wambach’s concussion was mishandled
Sex Differences in Reporting Concussion
One reason that this argument is used is that it is widely noted that males do not report concussions as often as they should. That is a societal issue. Sports culture must be changed to encourage and enable males to report concussions, and work is proceeding in that direction. In the meantime, it is erroneous to use that aspect when determining causes of concussion in females. You’re still looking at males.
Females get concussions, but not because males choose not to report concussions.
Saying that females report concussions more is woefully inadequate. It carries no weight. There needs to be a focus on physical causes such as vestibular issues, neck injuries, headaches, heading in soccer, and more. Let’s find the physical root causes of female concussions. It’s time to look at it seriously, not talk about talking about it.
[1] “Study reveals many female high school athletes do not report concussion injuries to trainers” news-medical.net September 29, 2016
[2] McDonald, Tracy MSN, RN; Burghart, Mark A. MOT; Nazir, Niaman MD, MPH “Underreporting of Concussions and Concussion-Like Symptoms in Female High School Athletes” Journal of Trauma Nursing September/October 2016 – Volume 23 – Issue 5 – p 241-246
