Rest may not always be the best cure after concussion for young people, and often an earlier return to school could be better in promoting recovery, a new study has found.
The research reveals that returning to school may be associated with a lower symptom burden after concussion and, ultimately, a faster recovery.
“We know that absence from school can be detrimental to youth in many ways and for many reasons,” says Dr Christopher Vaughan, neuropsychologist at Children’s National Hospital and the study’s lead author.
“The results of this study found that, in general, an earlier return to school after a concussion was associated with better outcomes.
“This helps us feel reassured that returning to some normal activities after a concussion – like going to school – is ultimately beneficial.”
In this cohort study, data from over 1,600 youth aged five to 18 were collected across nine paediatric emergency departments in Canada.
Because of the large sample size, many factors associated with greater symptom burden and prolonged recovery were first accounted for through the complex statistical approach used to examine the data.
The authors found that an early return to school was associated with a lower symptom burden 14 days post-injury in the eight to 12 and 13 to 18-year-old age groups.
“Clinicians can now confidently inform families that missing at least some school after a concussion is common, often between two and five days, with older kids typically missing more school,” Dr Vaughan says.
“But the earlier a child can return to school with good symptom management strategies and with appropriate academic supports, the better that we think that their recovery will be.”
The findings suggest the benefits of returning to school after concussion could include the social opportunity and freedom from isolation; reduced stress from not missing too much education; maintaining a normal sleep/wake schedule; returning to light to moderate physical activity, depending on the individual’s situation.
Children’s National – a leader in clinical services and research for youth with concussion, most notably through its Safe Concussion Outcome Recovery & Education (SCORE) Program – says future clinical trials and research can help further determine the best timing for students to return to school.
It added that the large study size in this research was due to the multitude of factors a child can be influenced by after a concussion, including injury severity, specific symptoms and pre-injury factors.
