Abstract:
Objective: This study sought to examine characteristics of concussion-related symptoms in an outpatient sample notable for mixed concussion etiology (e.g., sports, falls, motor vehicle collisions, and assaults). We sought to identify average symptom duration and demographic factors predicting longer symptom duration. Method: Data were obtained via review of records for patients who presented to a multidisciplinary Concussion Clinic during one calendar year (N = 287). Patients were 10–18 years old and 40% female. Reported symptoms were tracked at each visit using the Post Concussion Scale of the ImPACT neurocognitive measure. Length of recovery was determined by symptom report over time. Specific factors examined as possible predictors to length of recovery included gender, age at injury, etiology, history of concussion, and exceptionalities (learning disability, ADHD, developmental delays). Results: The mean duration of reported concussion symptoms was 40 days. When frequency of symptom duration was examined, 7% reported symptoms lasting longer than 90 days. Results did not indicate a significant main effect in predicting symptom duration, r2 = 0.3, F(5, 269) = 1.58, p = .17, although there was a trend towards significance for gender as an independent predictor of symptom duration, t = 1.87, p = 0.06. Conclusion(s): Results from this study indicated that demographic factors did not predict symptom duration. There was a trend toward females reporting longer symptom duration. Additional analyses will examine whether specific types of symptoms (cognitive, somatic, emotional) predicted symptom duration for the subset of this sample reporting symptoms beyond 90 days.