Head Injuries in the female football player: Incidence, mechanisms, risk factors and management

Jiri Dvorak ^1*, Paul McCrory ² and Don Kirkendall ³

¹ Schulthess Klinik, Switzerland
² University of Melbourne, Australia
³ University of North Carolina, United States

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jiri.dvorak{at}kws.ch.

Accepted 19 April 2007

Abstract

While injuries in sports are a concern for all participants, head injuries are particularly troublesome because of the potential for long-term cognitive deficits. To prevent any specific injury, it is important to understand the basic frequency and incidence of injury and then the mechanism of injury. Once these are established, prevention programs can be tested to see if the injury rate changes. A primary problem with head injuries is recognizing that the injury has occurred. Many athletes are not aware of the seriousness of concussive injury, thus this serious injury is underreported. Once the diagnosis of a concussion is made, the next difficult decision is when to return a player to the game. These two management issues dominate the continuing development of understanding of concussive head injury. This paper explores the known gender differences between head injuries and raises areas of research that need to be considered in the future.

Key Words: concussion, football injuries, gender differences, traumatic brain injury

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