Citation

Elbin RJ, Knox J, Kegel N, Schatz P, Lowder HB, French J, Burkhart S, Collins MW, Kontos AP. Appl. Neuropsychol. Child 2016; 5(4): 294-302.

Affiliation

UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program- Department of Orthopedic Surgery , University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/21622965.2015.1077334

PMID

27105069

Abstract

This study compared post-concussion symptom endorsements on the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) between a clinical open-ended interview, clinician-guided PCSS, parent-report PCSS, and computer-based PCSS in youth athletes with sport-related concussion (SRC). Participants included 54 patients aged 13-17 years (M = 15.19, SD = 1.29, 51.8% male) with a diagnosed SRC seen at a concussion clinic. Participants were administered a computer-based version (COMP) of the PCSS followed by clinical open-ended symptom interview (OPEN) and clinician-guided PCSS (GUIDED). Participants' parents concurrently and independently endorsed their children's symptoms by completing the PCSS in the waiting room (PARENT). Total number of symptoms reported and total symptom severity score were analyzed and compared across the four PCSS administration methods.

RESULTS revealed significantly lower total number of symptoms for OPEN compared to GUIDED (p = .002), PARENT (p < .001), and COMP (p = .006); and significantly lower total severity score for OPEN compared to GUIDED (p = .04) and PARENT (p < .001). These data support using the PCSS as a structured method of assessing post-concussion symptoms and question the utility of unstructured interview methods for assessing symptoms in youth athletes with SRC.

Language: en