The Adolescent Patient Perspective on Activity Limitations After Sport-Related Concussion.

Context: Assessment of sport-related concussion (SRC) has begun to include patient-reported outcome measures. However, understanding of which health limitations are most meaningful to adolescents after SRC is limited.

Objective: To explore patient-perceived activity limitations after SRC and throughout recovery to return to play and mapped according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) model.

Design: Longitudinal study.

Setting: Secondary school athletic training facilities.

Patients or other participants: Fifty patients (41 males, 5 females, 4 sex not reported, age = 14.9 ± 3.5 years, grade = 10.2 ± 0.93 level) with a medically diagnosed SRC.

Intervention(s): The Patient Specific-Functional Scale (PSFS) was used to assess changes in the patient's condition and the effect the injury posed on their ability to perform activities. The PSFS is a self-reported assessment of health used to identify activity limitations and rate the difficulty of performing those tasks. The PSFS was administered to patients on days 3 (D3) and 10 (D10) after SRC and at return to play.

Main outcome measure(s): Activities affected by injury were coded into common categories and themes by a 3-person research team for subsequent analysis. The coded themes were also mapped to the ICF domains, chapters, and categories. The dependent variables were the PSFS themes, number of activities endorsed, PSFS scores, ICF domains, chapters, and categories. Descriptive analyses and frequencies were reported for the dependent variables.

Results: A total of 157 different activities were identified at D3 and coded into 28 categories that fit into 6 themes: activities of daily living, cognitive and school (COG), sports and physical activity (SPA), screen time, sleep, and social. On D3, all patients (50/50) identified at least 1 activity limitation. Most related to SPA (37.6%) and COG (31.2%). Sixty percent of patients endorsed activity limitations at D10, primarily in COG (38.6%) and SPA (36.6%). All (100%) response categories were mapped to the ICF, with most (75%) fitting the activities and participation domain.

Conclusions: Our primary findings suggest that SRC influences many facets of the lives of adolescent athletes. Specifically, adolescent athletes identified activity restrictions primarily related to physical activity and sports participation.