Teenage girls who play football are almost at double the risk of concussion because they are less likely to be removed from the pitch and treated straight away.
Researchers at Glasgow University compared injury data on 80,000 female and male high-school soccer players in the US.
Sports-related concussion among female footballers was almost double - 1.88 times higher.
Teenage girls were less likely to be removed from play and took on average two days longer to recover from injury and return to play.
Male footballers were most often injured colliding with another player and were 1.5 times more likely to be removed from play on the day of injury.
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According to the findings, females were most often injured from contact with equipment such as the ball or a goalpost.
Prof Stewart, senior author of the study, says the outcomes raise the question of whether sports should consider sex-specific approaches to both participation and concussion management.
Leading expert on concussion in sport Prof Willie Stewart, who led the study, said: “Given we know the importance of immediate removal from play for any athlete with suspected concussion, it is notable that ‘if in doubt, sit them out’ appears more likely to happen for boys than girls.”
