Beyond Contact: Epidemiology of Concussion Incidence in Women’s Collegiate Sports, 2016–2022

Background: Concussions in female collegiate athletes are understudied. The purpose of this study was to understand the incidence of concussion in women's sports. Methods: Deidentified data from the Pac-12 Health Analytics Program were analyzed for female athletes from July 2016 to June 2022. Concussion incidences, expressed as cases per 100 athlete-years (AYs), were calculated across contact, limited-contact, and noncontact sports. Results: Between the 2016-2017 and 2021-2022 athletic seasons, 1026 concussions were reported across women's sports. Volleyball had the highest incidence (14.89 per 100 AYs; 95% CI = 12.88, 17.16) followed by basketball (13.44 per 100 AYs; 95% CI = 11.30, 15.91), water polo (11.93 per 100 AYs; 95% CI = 9.38, 15.05), and soccer (11.03 per 100 AYs, 95% CI = 9.61, 12.63). Conclusions: Female volleyball athletes had the highest concussion rate, and soccer rates were lower than previously reported. These findings highlight the need for tailored prevention strategies and further research.