Perceptions of personal control and treatment efficacy of sport-related concussions in collegiate athletes.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine healthy collegiate athletes' perceptions of personal control and beliefs regarding the treatment efficacy related to sport-related concussion (SRC) along with identifying factors that may be associated with these perceptions. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included collegiate athletes (n = 956) between the age of 18-26 years. Participants completed a 10- to 15-min survey regarding their demographics, diagnosed SRC history, SRC knowledge, and Perceptions of Concussion Inventory for Athletes (PCI-A). Chi-squared analysis and multivariable logistic regressions were conducted to identify factors associated with the PCI-A outcomes of personal control and treatment efficacy perceptions. RESULTS: 24.2% of respondents reported higher perceptions of personal control, while 77.3% reported higher perceptions of treatment efficacy. The multivariable logistic regression revealed males had higher odds of greater perceptions of personal control (OR = 1.50; 95% CI: 1.10-2.03), while those with a history of diagnosed SRC had lower odds of having favorable treatment efficacy beliefs (OR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.50-0.96). CONCLUSIONS: This study established that collegiate athletes generally have lower perceptions of personal control and higher perceptions of treatment efficacy related to SRC recovery. Comprehensive SRC education should be expanded for individuals to understand that they have power over their own health outcomes and that SRC is a treatable injury.

Effectiveness of interventions for the improvement of mental health and well-being post-concussion: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and assess the effectiveness and quality of interventions targeted at improving mental health, well-being, and psychosocial impairments post-concussion. DATA SOURCES: EBSCOHost, SPORTSDiscus, PsychINFO, Medline (Web of Science), PubMed, and Embase databases. REVIEW METHODS: This systematic review is reported in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement in exercise, rehabilitation, sport medicine and sports science (PERSiST). Articles were included if they: (1) were randomized controlled trials or repeated measures pre-posttest study designs, (2) reported mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or concussion injury, and (3) evaluated interventions targeting mental health, well-being, and psychosocial impairments post-injury. RESULTS: Twenty-three studies were included which evaluated interventions targeting mental health, well-being, and psychosocial impairments post-concussion. Interventions included cognitive rehabilitation (n = 7), psychotherapy (n = 7), psychoeducational (n = 3), neurocognitive training (n = 4), neurocognitive training combined with cognitive rehabilitation (n = 1), and psychotherapy combined with cognitive rehabilitation (n = 1). The seven (100%) cognitive rehabilitation intervention studies and four of the five (80%) neurocognitive training intervention studies observed significant improvements in mental health and well-being outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive rehabilitation and neurocognitive training may be the most effective interventions for mental health and well-being impairments post-concussion. Researchers and clinicians should continue to explore the effectiveness of these interventions, specifically in populations most impacted by concussion (i.e. athletes).

Concussion History and the Emotional and Behavioral Dyscontrol Domains of Health-Related Quality of Life in College Students.

CONTEXT: Injury or illness can affect individual perceptions of health status and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Concussion can result in different symptoms, impairments, and functional limitations that have been found to lower HRQOL. Furthermore, concussion is known to influence the emotional and behavioral dyscontrol domains of HRQOL in pediatric populations; however, this has yet to be explored in other populations. OBJECTIVE: To compare individuals with and those without a concussion history and (1) HRQOL and (2) the emotional and behavioral dyscontrol domains of HRQOL in college students. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: University laboratory setting. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Of a total of 252 participants (155 women; age = 19.95 ± 1.53 years), 76 (30.2%) had a history of concussion and 176 (69.8%) did not. For participants with a history of concussion, the mean time since injury was 5.29 ± 2.77 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Information System (PROMIS) Global Health, version 1.1, and Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders Emotional and Behavioral Dyscontrol Short Form (Neuro-QOL). RESULTS: No differences were seen between median scores in individuals with and those without a history of concussion in the PROMIS Physical Health (13.0 versus 14.0; P = .24), PROMIS Mental Health (12.0 versus 12.0; P = .99), and Neuro-QOL (16.0 versus 16.0; P = .47) scores. Additionally, when gender was controlled, the associations between a history of concussion and PROMIS Physical Health score (odds ratio [OR] = 1.04; 95% CI = 0.43, 2.52), PROMIS Mental Health score (OR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.13, 3.25), and Neuro-QOL score (OR = 1.16; 95% CI = 0.66, 2.04) were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary findings suggested that the emotional and behavioral dyscontrol domains were not influenced by a concussion history of > 1 year in college-aged participants. Future researchers should continue to explore specific HRQOL domains affected by concussion as well as the influences of prior mental health conditions and behavioral dysfunction after a subsequent injury.

Changes in State and Trait Anxiety Throughout Concussion Recovery in High School- and College-Aged Individuals.

CONTEXT: Researchers have indicated that individuals may experience anxiety symptoms after concussion. A potential mechanism for these presentations is shifts in anxiety throughout recovery. OBJECTIVE: To examine the levels of state and trait anxiety in individuals after concussion throughout recovery compared with the levels in individuals serving as uninjured matched control participants. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: University laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-eight high school- and college-aged individuals (concussion group = 39, age = 18.4 ± 2.3 years; matched control group = 39, age = 18.4 ± 2.3 years) were enrolled. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was administered within 72 hours of injury (day 0: first test session), 5 days (±1 day) after the first test session (day 5), and at the time of full medical clearance (+2 days). Separate 2 × 3 repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to investigate differences in state and trait anxiety for each group throughout recovery. RESULTS: State and trait anxiety were higher in the concussion group than in the control group at day 0, day 5, and full medical clearance. For state anxiety, we observed a group × time interaction (F2,150 = 10.45, P < .001, ƞp2 = 0.12). For trait anxiety, we did not note an interaction (F1.74,150 = 1.5, P = .22, ƞp2 = 0.02) but did find main effects for time (F1.74,150 = 25.7, P < .001, ƞp2 = 0.3) and group (F1,75 = 7.23, P = .01, ƞp2 = 0.09). CONCLUSIONS: Participants with concussion experienced higher levels of state anxiety throughout recovery than matched control individuals. Although trait anxiety was higher in the concussion group and decreased over time, no interaction was seen, demonstrating that concussion may not affect this aspect of personality. Postinjury anxiety may result from increased state anxiety, and clinicians should screen for and manage these symptoms throughout recovery.

MICK (Mobile Integrated Cognitive Kit) app: Feasibility of an accessible tablet-based rapid picture and number naming task for concussion assessment in a division 1 college football cohort.

Although visual symptoms are common following concussion, quantitative measures of visual function are missing from concussion evaluation protocols on the athletic sideline. For the past half century, rapid automatized naming (RAN) tasks have demonstrated promise as quantitative neuro-visual assessment tools in the setting of head trauma and other disorders but have been previously limited in accessibility and scalability. The Mobile Interactive Cognitive Kit (MICK) App is a digital RAN test that can be downloaded on most mobile devices and can therefore provide a quantitative measure of visual function anywhere, including the athletic sideline. This investigation examined the feasibility of MICK App administration in a cohort of Division 1 college football players. Participants (n = 82) from a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 football team underwent baseline testing on the MICK app. Total completion times of RAN tests on the MICK app were recorded; magnitudes of best time scores and between-trial learning effects were determined by paired t-test. Consistent with most timed performance measures, there were significant learning effects between the two baseline trials for both RAN tasks on the MICK app: Mobile Universal Lexicon Evaluation System (MULES) (p < 0.001, paired t-test, mean improvement 13.3 s) and the Staggered Uneven Number (SUN) (p < 0.001, mean improvement 3.3 s). This study demonstrated that the MICK App can be feasibly administered in the setting of pre-season baseline testing in a Division I environment. These data provide a foundation for post-injury sideline testing that will include comparison to baseline in the setting of concussion.