Adolescents with concussion have increased risk of mental health disorders – Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba

New research led by CHRIM researcher Kelly Russell, PhD, shows that adolescents with a concussion have an increased risk of mental health disorders.

Kelly Russell, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Adjunct Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, UM, Research Scientist, CHRIM

In a longitudinal, population-based study, and collaborators wanted to determine the long-term risk of new adverse psychosocial outcomes among adolescents diagnosed with a concussion compared with those not diagnosed.

Adolescents between the ages of 10-18 years with a physician-diagnosed concussion between 2000-2005 were matched on neighborhood and age with five non-concussion controls from the general population. New onset mental health disorders, medication use, social, and justice outcomes were extracted using datasets linked to the population data repository. The adolescents were then followed for 11 to 16 years.

Results showed that adolescents with a concussion had an increased risk of any mental health disorder, psychosis, substance abuse disorder, and receiving a psychotropic prescription. Females showed an increased risk of ADHD following a concussion.

From this study, future work should focus on the early identification of those at risk of these outcomes to help optimize longitudinal medical care and support.