ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the frequency and severity of post-concussive symptoms in youth with a history of concussion relative to youth without concussion who had another medical diagnosis, as well as compare the correlations between post-concussive and depressive symptoms between groups. We hypothesized comparable symptom reporting and correlations in each group. METHODS: A total of 564 youth ages 8-18 years were assessed regarding post-concussive symptoms. A subset of youth (n = 360) were compared on correlations between post-concussive and depressive symptoms. Non-parametric statistics were used for most analyses. RESULTS: Youth with concussion reported a comparable number of post-concussive and depressive symptoms as youth with another medical condition without concussion. However, those with concussion reported greater post-concussive symptom severity (but small effect sizes). Relationships between post-concussive and depressive symptoms were comparable for both groups, but for those who sustained a concussion, the correlation was significantly stronger for females than males. CONCLUSIONS: This study further demonstrates that post-concussive symptoms are nonspecific and provide little functional utility. Post-concussive and depressive symptoms are strongly correlated, particularly in females with concussion. Psychiatric comorbidities and other medical diagnoses should be assessed pre-injury because both affect interpretation of post-concussive symptom reports.
Subject(s)
Brain Concussion , Post-Concussion Syndrome , Adolescent , Brain Concussion/complications , Brain Concussion/epidemiology , Child , Cohort Studies , Cross-Sectional Studies , Depression/epidemiology , Depression/etiology , Female , Humans , Male , Post-Concussion Syndrome/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Subsyndromal posttraumatic stress among pediatric cancer survivors has been associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes. However, adolescent self-report and mother-proxy report of adolescents' posttraumatic stress symptoms evidenced varying concordance depending on methodology. There was moderate concordance, particularly among younger respondents, when total posttraumatic stress symptoms were viewed continuously and low-moderate concordance when viewed categorically; moderate-strong concordance for only one posttraumatic stress disorder symptom cluster; low-moderate agreement for high-frequency items; and no concordance for identifying caseness. Although a significant subset of pediatric cancer survivors experience posttraumatic stress, mothers and adolescents demonstrate limited symptom, categorical, and caseness agreement, potentially impacting adolescents' healthcare service utilization.
