Adolescents with Concussion May Benefit From More Activity Earlier

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have found that when it comes to concussion recovery, activity type matters. In a study published in British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers found that limiting screen time and returning to school early following a concussion may speed up recovery.

“Increased time spent in the classroom, participating in some after-school activities or working a job was associated in our study with faster symptom resolution, especially for participants with lower post-acute symptom scores,” said lead author Jingzhen Ginger Yang, Ph.D., MPH, principal investigator in the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s.

“However, when activities involved significant screen time—like surfing the internet or playing video/computer games—during the first week post-injury, symptoms resolved more slowly.”

This new study, conducted by experts in Nationwide Children’s Center for Injury Research and Policy, division of Sports Medicine, Center for Biobehavioral Health, and division of Emergency Medicine evaluated the intensity and duration of daily cognitive activity reported by adolescents (age 11–17 years) following concussion and examined the connections between these activities and symptom duration.

Participants reported increases in low-intensity cognitive activities—such as listening to music, reading, watching television, and making or receiving phone calls—and total minutes of overall cognitive activities as their symptoms resolved.

According to the study, the average time children returned to school after a concussion was almost one week. Symptoms resolved more slowly when returning to school was delayed. Additionally, participating in club activities was associated with faster symptom resolution.

“Increased engagement in the classroom during the first week post-concussion, especially for youth with lower post-concussion symptom scores, can mean symptoms resolve faster and teens get back to normal life.”

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-adolescents-concussion-benefit-earlier.html