Girl soccer players five times more likely than boys to return to play same day after concussion
The study abstract, "Gender Differences in Same-Day Return to Play Following Concussion Among Pediatric Soccer Players," will be presented on Saturday, Sept. 16, during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2017 National Conference & Exhibition in Chicago. The study examined young athletes, average age 14, who sustained a concussion while playing soccer and who were treated at a pediatric sports medicine clinic in Texas. Of the 87 athletes diagnosed with a soccer-related concussion, two-thirds (66.7 percent) were girls. Among them, more than half (51.7 percent) resumed playing in a game or practice the same day as their injury, compared to just 17.2 percent of boys. "The girl soccer players were 5 times more likely than boys to return to play on the same day as their concussion," said Shane M. Miller, MD, FAAP , senior author of the abstract and a sports medicine physician at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. "This is cause for concern, especial...