A-147 Post-Concussive Symptoms in Adolescent Athletes with Premorbid Psychiatric History: A Matched Case–Control Study

Abstract

Abstract Objective To examine sport-related concussion (SRC) symptoms in adolescent athletes with premorbid psychiatric history (PPH+) compared to a matched control sample without such history (PPH-). It was hypothesized that adolescents with PPH+ would report higher symptom severity both initially and at 3-month follow-up. Method Participants aged 13–18 (M age = 14.9) who reported a psychiatric history (N = 29) presented to clinic within 7 days of sustaining a SRC. Subjects were matched to those without premorbid psychiatric history (N = 29) by age, sex, race, sport, and time to clinic ( 1 day). All participants (N = 58) completed the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) at initial visit and 3-month follow-up as part of the North Texas Concussion Registry (ConTex). Independent sample T tests compared PCSS total and cognitive/fatigue, vestibular, ocular, posttraumatic migraine, and anxiety/mood domain scores between groups across time points. Results Consistent with our hypothesis, the PPH+ group reported significantly higher PCSS total (M = 41.0/132 vs. M = 27.7/132; p = .02), posttraumatic migraine domain (M = 3.5/6 vs. M = 2.5/6; p = .03), and anxiety domain (M = 1.1/6 vs. M = 0.4/6; p = .002) severity at the initial evaluation. However, there were no significant differences in PCSS total (PPH+ M = 4.1/132 vs. PPH- M = 3.3/132) or domain scores at 3-month follow-up. Conclusion(s) After matching by age, sex, race, sport, and time to clinic, adolescents with self-endorsed PPH+ reported higher total symptom, posttraumatic migraine, and anxiety domain symptom severity immediately following SRC but not at 3-month follow-up. Findings suggest that adolescents with PPH+ may experience higher subjective levels of distress following SRC, although further research is needed to understand the role of recovery in this population.