Factors that Influence Recovery From Concussion in Young Children and Preadolescents.
Publication/Presentation Date
10-15-2024
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine differences in the presentation and management of concussion in younger children (aged 4-8 years) versus preadolescents (9-12 years) and identify factors that influence recovery time.
DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data.
SETTING: Pediatric sports medicine and orthopedics clinic.
PATIENTS: Three hundred seventy-five patients aged 4 to 12 years diagnosed with concussion between 2020 and 2022.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: Age, gender, race/ethnicity, mechanism of injury (sport vs nonsport related), neurodevelopmental or psychiatric diagnosis, concussion history, Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) score, and Vestibular Ocular Motor Screening (VOMS) overall change scores.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Days since injury (DSI) to initial visit, total number of visits, recovery time (days).
RESULTS: Groups significantly differed in DSI ( P = 0.01) and overall VOMS change score ( P = 0.03). No differences were observed between groups on total number of visits or recovery time. Patients with fewer DSI [odds ratio (OR) = 1.15], less change in overall VOMS score (OR = 1.02), lower PCSS scores (OR = 1.02), and who were injured in sport were less likely to experience a protracted recovery.
CONCLUSIONS: Younger children with concussion may be appropriately treated with a similar approach to preadolescent patients despite greater DSI and differences in VOMS change scores, without sacrificing overall recovery time. Consistent with research in older cohorts, protracted recovery was seen in nonsport patients, and patients seen sooner at a specialty concussion clinic were less likely to experience a protracted recovery, endorsed lower PCSS scores, and had lower overall VOMS change scores. Further research is needed to solidify a child-specific paradigm to concussion management.
Volume
35
Issue
5
First Page
576
Last Page
583
ISSN
1536-3724
Published In/Presented At
Datoc, A. E., Mathew, A. S., Choi, D. M., Price, A., Lauman, S., Hartland, L. C., Boucher, S. J., Ellis, C. S., & Abt, J. P. (2024). Factors that Influence Recovery From Concussion in Young Children and Preadolescents. Clinical journal of sport medicine : official journal of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine, 35(5), 576–583. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0000000000001284
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
39729602
Department(s)
Department of Medicine
Document Type
Article