There is little known about the specific effects of TBIs on women, mainly because the majority of studies on the subject have focused more on men. A growing body of evidence suggests, however, that females have a higher rate of concussions than men playing sports with similar rules, such as ice hockey, soccer and basketball, with one study showing that women athletes are 50 percent more likely than male athletes to have a sports-related concussion.3 Researchers have also found that males and females have slightly different postconcussion symptoms and that women are at increased risk for post-concussion symptoms after sport-related mild TBI as compared with male patients Furthermore, a recently published study suggests that female athletes seek specialty medical treatment later than male athletes for sports-related concussions and this delay may cause them to experience more symptoms and longer recoveries. Another study reported that girls who suffer a sports-related concussion get specialty care nearly a week later on average than boys. Researchers speculate that because the sports girls tend to play, such as soccer, basketball and cheerleading are considered “moderate risk” activities, they have less sideline medical care following an injury than the male-dominated sports of football, ice hockey and basketball.
