Adult cognitive outcomes following childhood mild traumatic brain injuries

Abstract

Despite the detected cognitive deficits, those who sustained multiple mTBI did not exhibit worse or cumulative deficits compared to those with one mTBI.

Adult Cognitive Outcomes Following Childhood Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Scoping Review

“…Yumul and McKinlay14 recruited their sample through a review of hospital records and from the community. Participants in the mTBI group were included if they had a documented hospital admission of less than 2 days related to a clinical diagnosis of uncomplicated mTBI.…”

“…One factor that may account for variation in adult cognitive outcomes after pediatric mTBI is premorbid cognitive abilities. Given the positive association between estimated Full Scale IQ and long-term cognitive outcomes reported by Yumul and McKinlay,14 individuals with lower IQ may be more likely to sustain mTBI or be slower to recover from injury. Previous research has found that lower IQ increases the likelihood of worse outcomes after mTBI, including lower cognitive functioning, prolonged recovery, higher symptom burden, and increased incidence of psychiatric disorders 20–23.…”

“…Only 2 studies found significant group differences between mTBI and comparison groups 14,17. These group differences must be interpreted cautiously, moreover, as both studies' samples were drawn from retrospective hospital records.…”

“…Only 2 studies found significant group differences between mTBI and comparison groups. 14,17 These group differences must be interpreted cautiously, moreover, as both studies' samples were drawn from retrospective hospital records. Thus, their data are potentially not representative of the broader pediatric mTBI population, given that those seeking care at a hospital after mTBI may differ from those who seek care in other settings or not at all.…”

“…No preinjury data were collected as part of the studies reported here; therefore, premorbid group differences cannot be ruled out as an explanation of any difficulties shown by individuals with mTBI. Some studies reported on the number of concussions sustained in their sample population, 11,14,19 whereas others did not. 15,17,18 Furthermore, only 2 studies reported whether their sample suffered from complicated 18 or uncomplicated 14 concussions.…”