(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Despite prominence in the press about concussions
because of serious football and hockey injuries and skiing deaths, researchers
believe we still may not be taking this common head injury seriously enough.
Carol DeMatteo, associate clinical professor in the School of Rehabilitation
Science, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, found that children who are
diagnosed with concussion spend fewer days in hospital and return to school
sooner than their counterparts with head injuries diagnosed as something other
than concussion.
"Even children with quite serious injuries can be labeled as having a
concussion," DeMatteo was quoted as saying. "Concussion seems to be less
alarming than 'mild brain injury' so it may be used to convey an injury that
should have a good outcome, does not have structural brain damage and symptoms
that will pass."
Despite the benign terminology, a concussion is actually a mild traumatic brain
injury, which could have serious repercussions.
DeMatteo and colleagues analyzed medical records for 434 children who were
admitted over two years to the McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton with the
diagnosis of acquired brain injury. Of the 341 children with traumatic brain
injury, 300 children had a severity score recorded and, of that group, 32
percent received a concussion diagnosis.
The researchers found that despite the severity of the injury, children with the
concussion label stayed fewer days in hospital. Children labeled with concussion
spent fewer days away from school and were also more than twice as likely to
return to school sooner following hospital discharge.
"Our study suggests that if a child is given a diagnosis of a concussion, the
family is less likely to consider it an actual injury to the brain," said
DeMatteo. "These children may be sent back to school or allowed to return to
activity sooner, and maybe before they should. This puts them at greater risk
for a second injury, poor school performance and wondering what is wrong with
them."
DeMatteo said using the term "mild traumatic brain injury" instead of
"concussion" would help people to better understand what they are dealing with
so that they can make decisions accordingly. Particularly, as there are no
universally accepted guidelines for using the concussion diagnosis in children,
she said that using more specific descriptors of brain injury should lead to
more precise and informative terminology for use in both clinical and research
settings.
SOURCE: Pediatrics, February, 2010
