Clinical Recovery Timelines following Sport-Related Concussion in Men's and Women's Collegiate Sports

Context: Past work has identified sex differences in sport-related concussion (SRC) incidence and recovery time; however, few have examined sex differences in specific recovery trajectories: time to symptom resolution, return-to-academics, and return-to-athletic activity across collegiate sports.Obj...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of athletic training 2021-02
Main Authors: Bretzin, Abigail C, Esopenko, Carrie, D'Alonzo, Bernadette A, Wiebe, Douglas J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Concussion
Epidemiology
Females
Gender differences
Males
Outcome Measures
Recovery (Medical)
Sexes
Sports
Womens sports
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Summary:Context: Past work has identified sex differences in sport-related concussion (SRC) incidence and recovery time; however, few have examined sex differences in specific recovery trajectories: time to symptom resolution, return-to-academics, and return-to-athletic activity across collegiate sports.Objective: To examine sex differences in SRC recovery trajectories across a number of varsity sports with differing levels of contact.Design: Descriptive Epidemiology Study.Setting: College varsity and club sports. Patients or Other Participants: SRCs sustained by student-athletes (N=1,974; 38.7% female) participating in Ivy League sports were tracked from 2013/14-2018/19.Intervention(s): Athletic trainers collected concussive injury and recovery characteristics as part of the Ivy League-Big Ten Epidemiology of Concussion Study's surveillance system.Main Outcome Measure(s): Time to symptom resolution, return-to-academics, and return-to-limited and full athletic activity were collected. Survival analyses determined time from injury to each recovery outcome for males and females by sport. Peto tests compared recovery outcomes between males and female athletes and by sport.Results: The median time to symptom resolution overall was 9 days [IQR:4,18], return-to-academics was 8 days [IQR:3,15], return-to-limited activity was 12 days [IQR:8,23], and return-to-full activity was 16 days [IQR:10,29]. There were significant differences overall between sexes for median time to symptom resolution (males: 8 days [IQR:4,17], females: 9 days [IQR:5,20], p=0.029) and return-to-academics (males: 7 days [IQR:3,14], females: 9 days [IQR:4,17], p
ISSN:1062-6050
1938-162X
DOI:10.4085/601-20