Repeat Concussion and Recovery Time in a Primary Care Pediatric Office

J Child Neurol. 2016 Dec;31(14):1607-1610. doi: 10.1177/0883073816667194. Epub 2016 Sep 12.

Abstract

The authors enrolled 95 patients in a primary care office who presented with a concussion. Of these patients, 63% were sport concussions. The authors matched 90 of these patients to children in the authors' practice presenting for sports physicals or regular check-ups in the following demographics: age, participating in a particular sport, having attention-deficit disorder/attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, gender, and grade. The authors found the odds of recurrent concussions, in a primary care pediatric office, to be a ratio of 2.909 (95% confidence interval 1.228-7.287). Recovery time for repeat concussion versus an initial concussion was analyzed. Patients with a recurrent concussion after a year recovered an average of 12.0 days after injury versus 13.4 days for those with no previous concussion (NS). Patients with a recurrent concussion within a year recovered a mean of 6.27 (SD 1.29) days sooner than patients with no previous concussion (P < .0001). This unexpected finding is preliminary, and the authors encourage further research.

Keywords: previous concussion; prolonged recovery; quick recovery.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Athletic Injuries / complications
  • Brain Concussion* / etiology
  • Brain Concussion* / therapy
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Odds Ratio
  • Pediatrics
  • Primary Health Care
  • Recovery of Function*
  • Recurrence
  • Time Factors
  • Young Adult