Relationship between severity of concussion’s symptoms and functional performance in children

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Concussion is a common brain injury that has significant effects on multiple functional domains in children. However, limited research exists on the relationship between concussion severity and functional performance in this population. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the severity of concussion symptoms and children’s balance and functional performance.

Methods

This cross-sectional study recruited 23 children (9 males and 14 females; mean age 13.9 ± 2.2 years) with clinically diagnosed concussions from a tertiary balance center in 2016. Participants underwent clinical and functional evaluations by specialized physical therapists. Symptom severity was assessed using the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS), while functional performance was measured using the Functional Gait Assessment (FGA).

Results

There was a trend suggesting a negative correlation between symptom severity (PCSS) and functional performance (FGA), indicating potentially better performance in individuals with milder symptoms. However, this trend was not significant (rs (21) = –.072, p = 0.744). Furthermore, no significant correlation was found between FGA scores and the severity of individual symptoms.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that concussion symptom severity may not be directly related to functional performance in children. Therefore, it is crucial to incorporate functional performance measures alongside symptom assessment for comprehensive concussion management.

KEYWORDS:

• Concussion
• symptom severity
• functional performance
• children
• balance

Disclosure statement

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Majmaah University for supporting this work under Project Number (R-2024-1006).