Management and Recovery Patterns Following Sport-Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Male and Female College Athletes

We examined patterns in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) management and recovery exhibited by male and female athletes over the 19-year history of a Division 1 University Concussion Management Program. Methods: We examined 234 diagnosed mTBIs and compared time required to return to baseline on neurocognitive and self-report symptom measures for male and female athletes. Results: Males and females sustained 63.3% and 36.7% of mTBI, respectively. Athletes required on average 11.89 days to return to baseline on neurocognitive assessments and 11.83 days to report being symptom-free. There was a significant difference in the number of days until genders were symptom-free, with males and females requiring on average 10.11 days and 14.30 days, respectively. Discussion: More collegiate athletes received pre- and post-mTBI management than in the past. There is a continued need to examine patterns of neurocognitive and symptom recovery, which may lead to earlier detection of athletes at risk for persistent post-mTBI symptoms.
Source: Topics in Language Disorders - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research