Prolonged effects of concussion in high school athletes.
OBJECTIVE
To identify enduring prolonged neuropsychological effects of cerebral concussion in high school youth athletes.


METHODS
High school athletes (n = 223) underwent baseline neuropsychological evaluation between 1999 and 2000, assigned to independent groups on the basis of concussion history: athletes with no concussion history or present medical and/or neuropsychological complaints (n = 82), symptom-free athletes who experienced one (n = 56) or two or more (n = 45) concussions (not in the prior 6 mo), and those who experienced a concussion 1 week before testing (n = 40). Main outcome measures included a structured clinical interview, demographic form, symptom checklist, the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, and the Trail Making Tests A and B. Analyses of variance were used to determine between-group differences.


RESULTS
Athletes with recent concussions performed significantly worse on measures of attention and concentration than youth athletes with no concussion history. Symptom-free athletes with a history of two or more concussions performed similar on testing to youth athletes who had just experienced a recent concussion. Similarly, cumulative academic grade point averages were significantly lower not only for youth athletes with two or more previous concussion groups, but for youth athletes who experienced recent concussions, suggesting that athletes with lower grade point averages may be more prone to concussion.


CONCLUSIONS
There seem to be subtle yet significant prolonged neuropsychological effects in youth athletes with a history of two or more previous concussions.
Moser
Rosemarie Scolaro
RS
RSM Psychology Center, LLC, Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648, USA. r.moser@rcn.com
Schatz
Philip
P
Jordan
Barry D
BD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003710:Demography; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D038223:Post-Concussion Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students; D013995:Time