Article

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is common among children and is
associated with a range of symptomatology and clinical presentations. This study
uses data from a paediatric outpatient TBI clinic to (1) investigate
characteristics associated with more severe post-concussive symptoms and (2)
examine differences in the proportion of individuals endorsing specific
post-concussion symptoms based on group (e.g., sex, type of injury, and
psychiatric history). Methods Data from the Children's Hospital of Richmond's TBI
outpatient programme were analysed (N = 157). Results Gender and sports injury
were associated with severity of symptoms. In addition, females endorsed a
greater number of overall symptoms than males. A number of specific symptoms were
found to be endorsed to a greater extent based on psychiatric history and type of
injury; however, overall total number of symptoms endorsed did not differ based
on these characteristics. Conclusions Findings from this study provide further
evidence that mTBI affects a wide range of youth and that associated
symptomatology can indeed be varied. Moreover, results revealed differences in
endorsement of specific symptoms and symptom severity based on patient and injury
characteristics which have implications for concussion assessment and treatment.
Implications for Rehabilitation Symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury
(mTBI) in children and adolescents can have varied presentation, ranging from
minimal to severe. Females and those with non-sports-related injuries are more
likely to endorse greater symptoms following concussion. Symptom evaluation is an
essential component of the concussion assessment and treatment of paediatric
patients following mTBI, and clinicians should be aware of patient
characteristics associated with increased symptoms, especially when baseline
symptom data are not available.

Langue : ANGLAIS