Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- Children 11 to less than 18 years old who meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definition of mTBI\*. In brief, this is defined as a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 13 to 15 with:
- - Head injury (e.g., direct blow or sudden deceleration/acceleration) plus any neurological sign and/or symptom such as headache, nausea, history of loss of consciousness, confusion, dizziness, amnesia (not limited to these symptoms/signs)
- AND/OR
- - Traumatic intracranial abnormalities on CT or MRI (such as intracranial hemorrhage, skull fracture, or diffuse axonal injury)
- \*mTBI is defined as an acute brain injury resulting in neurological symptoms such as confusion or disorientation, headache, nausea, loss of consciousness, amnesia, seizure, focal signs or symptoms, and/or have traumatic intracranial abnormalities on CT or MRI imaging. mTBI patients have GCS scores of 13 to 15. Per CDC precedent, we will use the term mTBI which encompasses other commonly used terms such as "concussion" or "minor head injury". This will include patients who may have neuroimaging findings of traumatic abnormalities (e.g., intracranial hemorrhage, diffuse axonal injury, skull fractures) which are risk factors for mental health problems; however, neuroimaging is not required for enrollment into the study.
Exclusion Criteria:
- * Presentation to the ED \>72 hours post-injury
- * TBI requiring emergent neurosurgical intervention at the time of enrollment
- * Other injuries requiring emergent surgery at the time of enrollment
- * Parent or child unable to accurately complete the study questionnaires due to preexisting functional limitations (e.g., severe developmental delay)
- * Previous known enrollment into the study
- * Patient or parent does not speak English or Spanish
Ages Eligible for Study:
11 Years to 17 Years (CHILD)
Sexes Eligible for Study: ALL
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
No