Female adolescents demonstrate greater oculomotor and vestibular dysfunction than male adolescents following concussion.

OBJECTIVE

To examine differences between male and female adolescents on measures of balance, vestibular and oculomotor function within 3 weeks of concussion among a group of pediatric patients presenting to a sports medicine clinic.

DESIGN

Medical record review.

SETTING

Sports medicine clinic.

PARTICIPANTS

197 female (median age = 15.2 years) and 381 male (median age = 14.6 years) pediatric patients seen for a concussion, evaluated 9.3 ± 5.2 (mean ± SD) days post-concussion.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients completed Balance Error Scoring System (BESS), tandem gait, gaze stability, and near point of convergence (NPC) tests.

RESULTS

A higher proportion of female patients exhibited abnormal NPC (22% vs. 14%; p = 0.017), gaze stability (53% vs. 43%; p = 0.028), and tandem gait tests (20% vs. 13%; p = 0.026) compared to male patients. Multivariable analysis indicated an independent association between female sex and increased odds of abnormal NPC (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.07-3.00), and tandem gait tests (aOR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.12-3.41) following concussion.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that within the first three weeks of a concussion, female pediatric patients demonstrated increased odds of exhibiting abnormal near point of convergence, and tandem gait test performance compared to male patients.