Posted by Beth Schwinn, DCoE Public Affairs on October 14, 2014
DVIDS photo
In sports played by both girls and boys, research shows that girls are more likely to suffer concussions and to be more seriously injured by them, an associate professor at Michigan State University told attendees of a webinar hosted October 9 by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.
“Females are at a higher risk for concussion than male athletes,” said Tracy Covassin, Ph.D., who is also director of Michigan State’s Sport-Related Concussion Laboratory. “It’s even a higher risk than the typical college football athlete.”
Six out of every 10,000 men who play ice hockey or lacrosse in college
suffer concussions, she said, while 4.2 of every 10,000 men playing
soccer do. The figures for college women are 7 per 10,000 for ice
hockey, 6.7 for soccer, and 6.2 for lacrosse, according to a 2013 study
by the National Collegiate and Athletic Association.