1027 - Pediatric Concussions in Female Contact Sports: A 10-Year Analysis of Mechanisms and Associated Symptoms

Objectives: Increased popularity and accessibility for female athletes in sports has led to an increased incidence of sports-related injuries. However, there is relatively little research on gender-specific characteristics in concussions. The objective of this study is to describe the characteristics, mechanisms of injury, and associated symptoms of pediatric female patients diagnosed with concussions from contact sports.

Design: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System was queried from 2012-2021 for concussions evaluated in emergency departments sustained by athletes aged 4 to 18. The contact sports analyzed included Basketball, Cheerleading, Gymnastics, Hockey, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, and Volleyball. Demographics, incidence rates, mechanism of injury, and associated symptoms were analyzed for each sport during the study period.

Results: There were 3,906 female athletes who sustained concussions from 2012-2021 from contact sports.. The years 2020 and 2021 saw a significantly lower number of concussions compared to 2012-2019. Soccer had the greatest number of concussions at 34.1%, followed by basketball 21%, and Softball 14.1%. The most common MOI was player-to-player contact (1214, 31%) and head-to-ground (1103, 28.2%). MOI was sport specific with soccer and basketball having the highest proportion of player-to-player and gymnastics and cheerleading comprising mostly head-to-ground injuries. Loss of consciousness was reported in 5.5% of concussions with hockey having the highest rate at 6.9%. The most frequently reported associated symptoms were headache/head pain (41.1%), dizziness (28.12%), and confusion (9.2%).

Conclusions: Significant decreases in concussions in 2020 and 2021 can be attributed to social restrictions that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and raises concerns about the undertreatment of concussions in female contact sports. Mechanism of injury in female concussions is sport specific with high rates of player-to-player and player-to-ground injuries. Finally, there were no significant differences in symptom presentation among the different contact sports analyzed.