Table 2. Study Characteristic.
| Intervention group | Control Group | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Intervention | Control | Outcome Measure | Acute vs chronic and definition | N | Mean Age (SD) or [Range] | N | Mean Age (SD) |
| Leddy20 | Aerobic Exercise on bike or treadmill | Placebo-like stretching regimen | Days from injury to recovery; symptom severity score, proportion of participants with delayed recovery | Acute, starting within 10 days | 52 (24 females, 28 male) | 15.3 (1.6) | 51 (24 female, 27 male) | 15.4 (1.7) |
| Leddy, Master21 | Aerobic exercise: walking, jogging, or stationary bike | Placebo-like stretching regimen | PSCI, days to recovery, development of post-concussive symptoms | Acute, 24 hrs-10 days post-concussion diagnosis) | 61 (23 females, 38 males) | 15.5 (1.4) | 57 (21 females, 36 males) | 15.9 (1.4) |
| Chan22 | Aerobic Training: coordination exercises and visualization/imagery techniques | Usual Treatment (education about symptom management, school consultation with a hospital affiliated teacher who facilitated return to school, physician consult for medication and referral for community therapy) | PCSS, health-related quality of life, beck depression inventory for youth, pediatric quality of life, multidimensional fatigue scale, balance error scoring system, immediate post-concussion assessment | post-concussion symptoms >/= 1 month; >/= 2 persistent post-concussion symptoms | 10 (8 females, 2 males) | 15.1 (1.47) | 9 (6 females, 3 males) | 15.9 (1.66) |
| Reneker23 | Pragmatically designed individualized and progressive treatment plan | sham, subtherapeutic, and non-progressive therapeutic techniques to minimally progressive therapy | PCSS, time to return to play | acute (up to 14 days post concussion to start treatment) | 22 (14 males, 8 females) | 16.5 (2.9) | 19 (11 males, 8 females) | 15.9 (2.9) |
| Schneider24 | Postural education, range of motion exercises and cognitive and physical rest, until asymptomatic followed by a protocol of graded exertion. Along with cervical spine and vestibular rehab | Same as the intervention group except the cervical spine and vestibular rehab. | Return to play (days) | Both, but more chronic than acute | 15 (11 males, 4 females) | 15 [12-27] | 16 (7 males, 9 females) | 16 [7 males, 9 females] |
| Dobney25 | 4 components: (1) aerobic activity, (2) coordination/skill practice, (3) visualization, and (4) education beginning 2 weeks post injury | 4 components: (1) aerobic activity, (2) coordination/skill practice, (3) visualization, and (4) education beginning at the standard 4 week post injury | PCSI | Acute. Starting either 2 or 4 weeks after concussion | 10 (4 females, 6 males) | 15.6 (1.8) | 10 (4 females, 6 males) | 14.3 (2.7) |
| Maerlender19 | Exertion: Stationary bike ride for 20 min unless uncomfortable for 0-6 on RPE scale (mild to moderate exertion) | No physical exertion other than walking to school or daily activities. | Recovery length-symptom free from bike ride, IMPACT, neurocognitive test battery, BORG CR10 RPE. | n/a | 15 (12 females, 3 males) | N/a, Collegiate athletes | 13 (8 females, 5 males | N/a, Collegiate athletes |
| Micay26 | Aerobic exercise-progressive intensity/duration on cycle ergometer; | usual care-rest followed by physician advised progressions of activity | Intervention feasibility: symptom status pre-post exercise sessions and completion of intervention; Clinical recovery: symptom status at weeks 1,2,3, and 4 post injury and medical clearance date using self reported symptom severity scores on PCSS and days to clearance | acute starting at day 6 post injury | 7 (all males) | 15.8 (1.2) | 8 (all Males) | 15.6 (1.0) |
N=Number of participants; SD=Standard Deviation; PCSS=Post-concussion symptom scale; PCSI=Post-concussion symptom inventory