Open AccessIn-Season Concussion Symptom Reporting in Male and Female Collegiate Rugby Athletes
Author(s) -
Emily Kieffer,
P. Gunnar Brolinson,
Arthur C. Maerlender,
Eric P. Smith,
Steven Rowson
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
neurotrauma reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2689-288X
DOI - 10.1089/neur.2021.0050
Subject(s) - concussion , sss* , athletes , medicine , significant difference , physical therapy , mean difference , injury prevention , poison control , emergency medicine , confidence interval
Symptom inventories are generally only collected after a suspected concussion, but regular in-season monitoring may allude to clinical symptoms associated with repetitive subconcussive impacts and potential undiagnosed concussions. Despite sex-specific differences in symptom presentation and outcome of concussion, no return-to-play protocol takes sex into account. The objective of this study was to monitor a cohort of contact-sport athletes and compare the frequency and severity of in-season concussion-like symptom reporting between sexes. Graded symptom checklists from 144 female and 104 male athlete-seasons were administered weekly to quantify the effect of subconcussive impacts on frequency and severity of in-season symptom reporting. In-season, mean symptom severity score (SSS) ( p = 0.026, mean difference of 1.8), mean number of symptoms ( p = 0.044, mean difference of 0.9), max SSS ( p < 0.001, mean difference of 19.2), and max number of symptoms ( p < 0.001, mean difference of 6.8) were higher in the females. The females' survey results showed differences between elevated and concussed SSS ( p < 0.005, mean difference of 28.1) and number of symptoms reported ( p = 0.001, mean difference of 6.6). The males did not have a difference in SSS ( p = 0.97, mean difference of 1.12) nor in number of symptoms ( p = 0.35, mean difference of 1.96) from elevated to concussed athletes. Rugby players report concussion-like symptoms in the absence of a diagnosed concussion in-season. Female athletes reported elevated symptom frequencies with greater severities than the males, but both sexes reported considerable levels throughout the season.