A - 41 Relationship between Fear-Avoidance Behavior, Clinical Outcomes, and Recovery Time in Adults Following Concussion

To examine the relationship between fear-avoidance behavior, clinical outcomes, and recovery time in adults following concussion. This prospective study included patients aged 18–50 years who presented to a specialty clinic 5–30 days post-concussion. Participants completed a clinical intake (e.g., demographics/medical history), multidomain clinical assessment (Clinical Profile Screen [CP-Screen], Immediate Post-concussion Cognitive Testing [ImPACT], Vestibular/Ocular Motor Screen [VOMS], Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9], Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 [GAD-7]), and the Fear-Avoidance Components Scale (FACS). Recovery time was ascertained at a subsequent visit(s). Fear-avoidant (FA) and non-fear-avoidant (NFA) groups were classified using cutoffs from the FACS (FA = 41–100; NFA = 0–40) and compared using independent samples t-tests, X2 tests, and analyses of covariance. Seventy-two participants (M = 28.7¬ ± 8.5 years, 69.4% female) were included: 37 (51.4%) in the FA and 35 (48.6%) in the NFA group. Groups did not differ on demographics, medical history, injury characteristics, or CP-Screen. A greater proportion of the FA group had the anxiety/mood profile (62.2% vs 31.4%, p < 0.01). The FA group had worse ImPACT reaction time (t(68) = −2.7, p < 0.01, d = −0.7), VOMS visual motion sensitivity (t(67) = −2.3, p = 0.03, d = −0.5), GAD-7 (t(70) = −3.9, p < 0.01, d = −0.9), and PHQ-9 (t(69) = −2.8, p < 0.01, d = −0.7) scores, and longer recovery (t(24) = −2.8, p = 0.01, d = −0.9), even when controlling for age and time to clinic (F[1, 22] = 4.6, p = 0.04, ηp2 = 0.17). Adults who reported high fear-avoidance (e.g., avoiding activity, catastrophizing) had worse clinical outcomes and longer recovery following concussion compared to non-fear-avoidant adults, despite no differences in demographics, medical history, injury characteristics, or symptoms. Clinicians should screen for and counsel adults post-concussion against engaging in fear-avoidance behaviors to improve recovery outcomes.