TY - JOUR PY - 2019// TI - Post-traumatic headache after pediatric traumatic brain injury: prevalence, risk factors, and association with neurocognitive outcomes JO - Journal of child neurology A1 - McConnell, Blake A1 - Duffield, Tyler A1 - Hall, Trevor A1 - Piantino, Juan A1 - Seitz, Dylan A1 - Soden, Daniel A1 - Williams, Cydni SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - Post-traumatic headache is common after pediatric traumatic brain injury and affects thousands of children every year, but little is known about how headache affects recovery after traumatic brain injury in other symptom domains. We aimed to determine the association between headache and other common symptoms after pediatric traumatic brain injury and explore whether subjective complaints of headache are associated with objective deficits on specialized neurocognitive testing. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children ages 3-19 years following traumatic brain injury with a completed Sports Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT) questionnaire. Post-traumatic headache was defined by a score more than 2 on the SCAT question for headache and define headache groups for comparison. In our cohort, we analyzed data from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Second Edition (WASI-II). Headache was reported in 40 (33%) patients presenting for post-traumatic brain injury care among 121 pediatric traumatic brain injury patients and did not differ by injury severity. Median total SCAT symptom score in the headache group was 5-fold higher compared to patients without headache (median 45.5 vs 9; P <.001). Significantly lower-scaled scores in color naming, matrix reasoning, letter sequencing, and letter switching were also found in the headache group (all P ≤.03). Our study shows that headache, as reported by patients on the SCAT, is associated with higher symptom scores in all other symptom domains, including sleep, mood, sensory, and cognitive. Headache was also associated with worse objective neurocognitive measures and may identify patients who could benefit from specialized follow-up care and management.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0883-0738 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0883073819876473 ID - ref1 ER -