Concussion in Adolescent Girls Is Associated with Irregular Menses

Neuroendocrine disorders from traumatic brain injury have been reported in adults, including menstrual dysfunction in women. These findings raise the question of whether adolescent girls and young women may experience menstrual problems after concussion. To find out, researchers prospectively enrolled 128 girls and young women (aged 12–21 years) from two sports medicine clinics who had experienced either a sports-related concussion (N=68) or a non-head orthopedic injury (N=60).

Eligibility requirements included being ≥2 years post menarche and having regular periods during the previous year. Participants completed weekly surveys about menstrual bleeding for up to 120 days after enrollment. Menstrual dysfunction, the primary outcome, was defi…