Determining the presence of concussions in high school athletes just became much more complicated. A new study finds that there is a difference in concussion symptoms among boys and girls. The differences in symptoms are strong enough to require that schools, coaches and parents be aware of the findings of the study.

The findings of the study were presented recently at the National Athletic Trainers Association Youth Sports Safety Summit in Washington DC.  According to the study, boys are much more likely to report symptoms like confusion and disorientation, and girls are much more likely to report other symptoms like drowsiness. Girls are also more likely to report higher sensitivity to noise.

These differences could mean that high school girls who suffer concussions during sports, could be at risk of having their concussions misdiagnosed because of the differences in the symptoms. The researchers found that girls who suffer concussions are at a higher chance of having their injury go undiagnosed, because symptoms like excessive sensitivity to noise or drowsiness may be considered less urgent and immediate. Besides, these symptoms may also be mistaken for those of other conditions. On the other hand, boys who suffer a concussion and report confusion, disorientation and amnesia are much more likely to have their injury taken seriously.

The researchers studied concussions in high school athletes playing nine different sports including boys’ soccer, football, basketball, baseball, wrestling and girls’ soccer, basketball, volleyball and softball. The data involved a total of 812 concussions. Out of these, 602 involved boys and 202 involved girls.

Some symptoms were common to both sexes. For instance, headache was the most frequently reported symptom for both boys and girls.

One particular aspect of these injuries that researchers did not consider is that the types of injuries that boys suffer may be different from the types of injuries that girls suffer, and that this could explain the difference in symptoms. California brain injury lawyers hope for more studies into this phenomenon.