Skip to main content
Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine logoLink to Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine
. 1994 Jun;11(2):79–84. doi: 10.1136/emj.11.2.79

Sequelae of minor head injury: the natural history of post-concussive symptoms and their relationship to loss of consciousness and follow-up.

K Barrett 1, A B Ward 1, A Boughey 1, M Jones 1, W Mychalkiw 1
PMCID: PMC1342393  PMID: 7921579

Abstract

The character and natural history of post-concussive symptoms were studied in two subject groups: patients admitted to hospital for observation following brief loss of consciousness (LOC) as a result of head injury and patients who attended the accident unit after head injury but not were not admitted. Follow-up data were obtained from the hospitalized group at standardized out-patient interview and from the non-hospitalized group by postal questionnaire. Two- and 12-week data are presented on 24 hospitalized and 58 non-hospitalized patients. The type and frequency of symptoms was similar in the two groups and rank ordering was significantly correlated. However, the reduction in symptom scores (number of symptoms) 12 weeks post-injury was significantly greater in the hospitalized than the non-hospitalized group. The possible significance of this is discussed.

Full text

PDF
80

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Binder L. M. Persisting symptoms after mild head injury: a review of the postconcussive syndrome. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 1986 Aug;8(4):323–346. doi: 10.1080/01688638608401325. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dikmen S., McLean A., Temkin N. Neuropsychological and psychosocial consequences of minor head injury. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1986 Nov;49(11):1227–1232. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.49.11.1227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hinkle J. L., Alves W. M., Rimell R. W., Jane J. A. Restoring social competence in minor head-injury patients. J Neurosci Nurs. 1986 Oct;18(5):268–271. doi: 10.1097/01376517-198610000-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Radanov B. P., di Stefano G., Schnidrig A., Ballinari P. Role of psychosocial stress in recovery from common whiplash [see comment]. Lancet. 1991 Sep 21;338(8769):712–715. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(91)91441-v. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Rutherford W. H., Merrett J. D., McDonald J. R. Symptoms at one year following concussion from minor head injuries. Injury. 1979 Feb;10(3):225–230. doi: 10.1016/0020-1383(79)90015-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES