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.
Keywords: Adolescence; Mild traumatic brain injury; Pediatric; Postural balance; Sex differences; Sports.
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