ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Sex differences in baseline neuropsychological function and concussion symptoms of collegiate athletes

T Covassin¹, C B Swanik², M Sachs³, Z Kendrick³, P Schatz⁴, E Zillmer⁵, C Kaminaris⁵

¹ Department of Kinesiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
² Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
³ Department of Kinesiology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
⁴ Department of Psychology, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia
⁵ Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia

Correspondence to:
Tracey Covassin
Department of Kinesiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA; covassin{at}msu.edu

Objective: To investigate sex differences in baseline neuropsychological function and concussion symptoms between male and female collegiate athletes.

Methods: A post-test only design was used to examine baseline neuropsychological test scores and concussion symptoms. A total of 1209 NCAA Division I collegiate athletes from five northeastern universities in the USA completed a baseline ImPACT test. ImPACT, a computerised neuropsychological test battery, was administered during an athlete’s pre-season.

Results: Female athletes performed significantly better than male athletes on baseline verbal memory scores (p = 0.001), while male athletes performed significantly better than female athletes on baseline visual memory scores (p = 0.001). Female athletes endorsed a significant number of mild baseline symptoms as compared to male athletes.

Conclusions: Male and female athletes exhibit differences on baseline neuropsychological test performance and concussion symptoms.

Keywords: concussion symptoms; ImPACT; neuropsychological functioning; sex differences

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Commentary

G Iverson⁶

⁶ University of British Columbia, Canada; giverson{at}interchange.ubc.ca

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Commentary

D J Stearne⁷

⁷ West Chester University, Pennsylvania, USA; dstearne{at}wcupa.edu

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