Does a Prior History Predict Prolonged Recovery Times from Sports-Related Concussion in Adolescents Seen In A Specialty Clinic?

Purpose: The goal of our study was to examine the effect a prior history of concussion has on clinical recovery times for adolescent patients seen in a specialty clinic for sports related concussion (SRC). Additionally, concussion clinical profiles were compared in patients with a prior history of concussion and prolonged recovery to expand empirical evidence for the therapeutic use of these profiles in specialty clinics. Hypothesis: Patients with a prior history of concussion will have similar recovery times compared to patients with no prior history of concussion. Methods: A retrospective chart review was used to identify eligible patients for analysis (n=302). A non-inferiority analysis was used to assess if patients with a history of concussion had significantly non-inferior recovery times compared to patients with no history. Chi-square analysis was used to compare clinical profiles. Exploratory analysis conducted for a small cohort (n=12) of patients who were treated for two separate concussions using within-subjects design. Results: Recovery time in patients with a history was significantly noninferior to the recovery time of patients without a history (p = 0.01). There was no association of clinical profiles across groups. The exploratory analysis revealed a non-significant decrease in recovery time across injuries, but this analysis had low power due to small sample size. Conclusion: Recovery times do not significantly increase for patients with prior history of concussion seen at a specialty clinic.