| Lacrosse has the second highest incidence rate of concussion in both male and female high school sports. Limited research has explored the effect of concussion in this population. The current study investigated differences between male and female high school (M=15.36 years old, SD= 1.25) lacrosse players (males=213, females=68) against a control group of soccer players (males=97, females=121) on neurocognitive testing and symptoms at baseline and after acute concussion. Neurocognitive performance and symptoms were measured using the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) battery. Results of a repeated-measures MANOVA with gender and sport as between-subject predictors and concussion as the within-subject predictor revealed significant main effects for gender F(5,491)=9.02, p<.001, partial eta-squared=.08, sport F(5,491)=4.83, p<.001, partial eta-squared=.05, and concussion F(5,491)=52.20, p<.001, partial eta-squared=.35, and an interaction effect for concussion and gender F(5,491)=5.26, p<.001, partial eta-squared=.05. Females presented with a worsened neurocognitive performance on all measures (p<.05) with the exception of Visual Motor Speed (p=.07), and a greater severity of symptoms (p<.001) after concussion compared to males. Sport type did not modify the effect of concussion on athletes, but lacrosse players consistently performed better on Reaction Time and worse on Visual Memory measures compared to soccer players (p<.05). This study provides further evidence that gender appears to modify the effect of concussion regardless of sport type. |
