May 2, 2024

Contrary to Popular Belief: New Study Finds Early Return to School Can Accelerate Concussion Recovery

Concussions are a kind of brain injury brought on by a blow, jolt, or bump to the head or body that can shake the brain inside the skull. They are a common kind of injury in contact sports such as soccer, football, and hockey, along with in activities such as biking, skateboarding, and horseback riding. Signs of a concussion can include headache, dizziness, confusion, level of sensitivity to light and sound, and memory issues.
A brand-new study released in JAMA Network Open suggests that resting from school after a concussion may not constantly be the very best method, contrary to common belief. The research study reveals that going back to school early is linked to a lower problem of symptoms and faster recovery after a concussion.
” As a pediatric emergency physician who deals with numerous youths with consistent and brand-new concussion signs, I see far a lot of kids who are told to prevent school till they are symptom-free which can trigger more damage and delay the recovery process. The results of this study supply strong proof that an early return to school is associated with better outcomes,” stated Dr. Roger Zemek, Senior Scientist at the CHEO Research Institute, and Professor and Clinical Research Chair in Pediatric Concussion at the University of Ottawa and senior author on the research study.
The findings come from the largest prospective pediatric concussion cohort research study with over 3,000 youth aged 5 to 18 in 9 pediatric emergency situation departments in Canada within the Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) network and was led by Dr. Zemek as the Principal Investigator at the CHEO Research Institute.

In this sub-study, the private investigators taken a look at 1,600 youth and compared those 1,600 youth who returned to school early (less than two days) versus later on while accounting for elements that might influence the timing of the decision to return to school (including sign problem, prior concussions, and so on).
The authors found that an early return to school within two days was associated with better healing at two weeks following the concussion in youth aged 8 to 18 years of ages, and the associated advantage remained in reality greatest in the youth who were most symptomatic.
” This research study reveals that children need to strive to go back to school even if they are still experiencing signs as it will assist with their recovery process. Clinicians can confidently notify families that although missing out on a number of days of school is typical, an extended absence can be more harmful. With excellent symptom management strategies, school support with accommodations, returning to school as quickly as possible is best,” stated Dr. Zemek, who co-leads the Living Guideline for Pediatric Concussion, which provides health care specialists identifying and managing kids and youth with concussions with updated evidence-based medical recommendations and tools.
The research study findings suggest that there might be a system of therapeutic benefit to the early return to school. This could be due to:

Provided the multitude of other aspects that can be expected to influence when a child go back to school after a concussion– consisting of injury severity, particular symptoms, and pre-injury elements– a big sample size and complex statistical analytic technique was required. Future medical trials and research can assist determine how each individual can accomplish their own ideal timing for go back to school after a concussion.
Referral: “Association Between Early Return to School Following Acute Concussion and Symptom Burden at 2 Weeks Postinjury” by Christopher G. Vaughan, PsyD, Andrée-Anne Ledoux, Ph.D., Maegan D. Sady, Ph.D., Ken Tang, Ph.D., Keith Owen Yeates, Ph.D., Gurinder Sangha, MD, Martin H. Osmond, MD, Stephen B. Freedman, MD, Jocelyn Gravel, MD, Isabelle Gagnon, MD, William Craig, MD, Emma Burns, MD, Kathy Boutis, MD, Darcy Beer, MD, Gerard Gioia, Ph.D. and Roger Zemek, MD for the PERC 5P Concussion Team, 20 January 2023, JAMA Network Open.DOI: 10.1001/ jamanetworkopen.2022.51839.
The study was moneyed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Early socializing (avoiding results of seclusion);.
Decreased tension from not missing out on excessive school;.
Maintaining or returning to a normal sleep/wake schedule;.
Going back to safe light-to-moderate exercise quicker (likewise constant with previous research led by the CHEO Research Institute).

Concussions are a type of brain injury caused by a shock, blow, or bump to the head or body that can shake the brain inside the skull. Symptoms of a concussion can include headache, dizziness, confusion, sensitivity to light and noise, and memory issues.
” This study shows that kids should make every effort to return to school even if they are still experiencing symptoms as it will help with their recovery procedure. With excellent symptom management techniques, school assistance with lodgings, getting back to school as soon as possible is best,” stated Dr. Zemek, who co-leads the Living Guideline for Pediatric Concussion, which provides health care specialists diagnosing and handling kids and youth with concussions with up-to-date evidence-based clinical recommendations and tools.