@article{ref1,
title="Less than half of patients recover within 2 weeks of injury after a sports-related mild traumatic brain injury: a 2-year prospective study",
journal="Clinical journal of sport medicine",
year="2020",
author="Kara, Stephen and Crosswell, Hannah and Forch, Katherine and Cavadino, Alana and McGeown, Josh and Fulcher, Mark",
volume="30",
number="2",
pages="96-101",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To describe clinical recovery time and factors that might impact on recovery after a sports-related mild traumatic brain injury (SR-mTBI; concussion). <br><br>DESIGN: Prospective cohort study (level IV evidence). SETTING: New Zealand Sports Concussion Clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Eight hundred twenty-two patients presenting within 14 days of a SR-mTBI/concussion over a 2-year period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical recovery measured as number of days after injury. INTERVENTIONS METHODS: Participants were assessed and managed using a standardized protocol consisting of relative rest followed by controlled cognitive and physical loading. A reassessment was performed 14 days after injury with initiation of an active rehabilitation program consisting of a subsymptom threshold exercise program ± cervicovestibular rehabilitation (if required) for participants who remained symptomatic. Participants were then assessed every 2 weeks until clinical recovery. <br><br>RESULTS: A total of 594 participants were eligible for analysis (mean age 20.2 ± 8.7 years, 77% males) and were grouped into 3 age cohorts: children (≤12 years), adolescents (13-18 years), and adults (≥19 years). Forty-five percent of participants showed clinical recovery within 14 days of injury, 77% by 4 weeks after injury, and 96% by 8 weeks after injury. There was no significant difference in recovery time between age groups. Prolonged recovery was more common in females (P = 0.001), participants with &quot;concussion modifiers&quot; (P = 0.001), and with increased time between injury and the initial appointment (P = 0.003). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This study challenges current perceptions that most people with a SR-mTBI (concussion) recover within 10 to 14 days and that age is a determinant of recovery rate. Active rehabilitation results in high recovery rates after SR-mTBI.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1050-642X",
doi="10.1097/JSM.0000000000000811",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0000000000000811"
}