Risk Factors for Development of Post-Concussive Headaches in a Pediatric TBI Subspecialty Clinic Population (P01.179)

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to further understand the factors that contribute to development of post-traumatic headache in a pediatric subspecialty population. Background Traumatic brain injury is a major pediatric public health problem, with as many as 500,000 children under the age of 15 presenting to the emergency department annually. Approximately 80% of these can be classified as mild. Even in this population, children can suffer from acute and persistent post-concussive symptoms, including headache. Design/Methods: Data was collected from children ages 6 months-21 years, presenting to our pediatric neurology clinic with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). The data was prospectively collected. 61 patients had follow-up within 6 months after injury. Of these patients, 32 suffered a sports-related injury, and were between the ages of 7-21 years. Results: Approximately half of all mild TBI patients suffered from post-traumatic headache. Those that were injured due to a sports-related mechanism were 2.7 times more likely to have post-traumatic headache than those whose mild TBI was not sports-related (95% CI 1.0-7.8). Additionally, patients who had a premorbid diagnosis of headache were 5.3 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic headache, than those without premorbid headaches (95% CI 0.8-147.1). Statistical analysis was performed using odds ratio estimations and confidence intervals using EpiTools: R Package for Epidemiologic Data and Graphics (version 0.5-6). Conclusions: Understanding the risk factors for the development of headaches following mild TBI may provide an indication for those patients who may benefit from a referral to a pediatric neurology TBI clinic. Supported by: UCLA BIRC, NS05720, NS027544, Child Neurology Foundation, TTCF, Thrasher Research Fund, UCLA FGP. Disclosure: Dr. Choe has nothing to disclose. Dr. Valino has nothing to disclose. Dr. McArthur has nothing to disclose. Dr. Giza has nothing to disclose.