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Background: Prior studies have shown poor recruitment and retention of minoritized groups in clinical trials. Objective: To examine several social determinants as predictors of consent to participate and retention as part of a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of children 8-16 with either mild traumatic brain injury (mild TBI) or orthopedic injury (OI). Methods: Children and families were recruited during acute visits to emergency departments (ED) in two large children's hospitals in the midwestern United States for a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of children 8-16 with either mild TBI or OI. Results: A total of 588 (mild TBI = 307; OI = 281) eligible children were approached in the ED and 315 (mild TBI = 195; OI = 120) were consented. Children who consented did not differ significantly from those who did not consent in sex or age. Consent rates were higher among Black (60.9%) and multi-racial (76.3%) children than white (45.3%) children. Among the 315 children who consented, 217 returned for a post-acute assessment (mild TBI = 143; OI = 74), a retention rate of 68.9%. Participants who were multi-racial (96.6%) or white (79.8%) were more likely to return for the post-acute visit than those who were Black (54.3%). Conclusions: Racial differences exist in both recruitment and retention of participants in a prospective, longitudinal cohort of children with mild TBI or OI. Further work is needed to understand these differences to ensure equitable participation of minoritized groups in brain injury research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and injury-related outcomes such as postconcussive symptoms (PCS) may influence health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children. Methods We evaluated HRQOL in 186 8- to 15-year-old children with mild TBI and 99 children with orthopedic injuries (OI). Parents rated the frequency and severity of PCS at an initial assessment within 2-weeks postinjury and rated HRQOL at 3- and 12-months postinjury. Results The mild TBI and OI groups did not differ in psychosocial HRQOL, but the mild TBI group showed lower physical HRQOL at the 12-month follow-up. Somatic PCS were a significant predictor of physical HRQOL over time, and both cognitive and somatic PCS were significant predictors of psychosocial HRQOL over time. Children with higher PCS at the initial assessment had lower HRQOL scores at later time points. Conclusions Effective management of PCS may be associated with improvements in HRQOL following pediatric mild TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined whether children's coping strategies are related to post-concussive symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) versus orthopedic injury (OI). Participants were 8- to 15-year-old children with mild TBI (n = 167) or OI (n = 84). They rated their current preferred coping strategies and post-injury symptoms at 2 weeks (baseline) and 1, 3, and 12 months post-injury. Children's reported use of coping strategies did not vary significantly over time, so their baseline coping ratings were examined as predictors of post-concussive symptoms across time. Self-ratings of symptoms were positively related to emotion-focused strategies and negatively related to problem-focused engagement after both mild TBI and OI. Higher problem-focused disengagement predicted larger group differences in children's ratings of symptoms, suggesting that problem-focused disengagement moderates the effects of mild TBI. Coping strategies collectively accounted for approximately 10–15% of the variance in children's post-concussive symptoms over time. The findings suggest that coping may play an important role in accounting for children's perceptions of post-concussive symptoms after mild TBI. (JINS, 2011, 17, 317–326) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The level of parent-child agreement on post-concussive symptoms (PCS) was examined in children following mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI). As part of a larger longitudinal study, 186 children with mild TBI and 99 with orthopedic injuries (OI), from 8 to 15 years of age, were recruited prospectively. Parents and children completed the PCS Interview (PCS-I) and the Health and Behavior Inventory (HBI) at 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 12 months postinjury. Item-level correlations between child and parent ratings on both measures of PCS were significant but modest in both groups. Parent-child correlations for composite scales on the HBI and the total score on the PCS-I were significant in both groups, but somewhat higher in the OI group than in the mild TBI group. Mean symptom ratings tended to be significantly higher for children as compared to parents, especially for somatic symptoms. Parents and children display modest agreement when reporting PCS; their ratings correlate significantly, but children report higher mean levels of symptoms than parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study sought to examine the effects of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) on executive functions in school-aged children. Participants and method: The prospective, longitudinal study involved 8-15 year old children, 186 with mild TBI and 99 with mild orthopaedic injuries (OI). They were administered the Stockings of Cambridge and Spatial Working Memory sub-tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery (CANTAB) ∼10 days, 3 months and 12 months post-injury. Parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF) on each occasion, with ratings at the initial assessment intended to assess pre-morbid functioning retrospectively. Results: On the CANTAB, the groups did not differ on the Stockings of Cambridge and the mild TBI group unexpectedly performed better than the OI group on Spatial Working Memory. On the BRIEF, children with mild TBI showed a marginally significant trend toward more problems than the OI group on the Metacognition Index composite. The only BRIEF sub-scale on which they demonstrated significantly more problems was Organization of Materials. The presence of intracranial abnormalities on MRI was associated with more problems on the BRIEF Organization of Materials sub-scale at 3 months, but other findings were not consistent with hypothesized effects of TBI severity. The CANTAB sub-tests were significant predictors of later ratings on the BRIEF, but accounted for modest variance. Discussion: Children with mild TBI show limited evidence of deficits in executive functions, either cognitively or behaviourally, irrespective of injury characteristics. Cognitive tests of executive functions are modest predictors of ratings of executive functions in everyday life, for children both with and without mild TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This prospective, longitudinal cohort study examined the trajectory, classification, and features of posttraumatic headache after pediatric mild traumatic brain injury. Methods: Children (N = 213; ages 8.00 to 16.99 years) were recruited from two pediatric emergency departments <24 hours of sustaining a mild traumatic brain injury or mild orthopedic injury. At 10 days, three months, and six months postinjury, parents completed a standardized questionnaire that was used to classify premorbid and posttraumatic headache as migraine, tension-type headache, or not otherwise classified. Multilevel mixed effects models were used to examine posttraumatic headache rate, severity, frequency, and duration in relation to group, time postinjury, and premorbid headache, controlling for age, sex, and site. Results: PTH risk was greater after mild traumatic brain injury than mild orthopedic injury at 10 days (odds ratio = 197.41, p <.001) and three months postinjury (odds ratio = 3.50, p =.030), especially in children without premorbid headache. Posttraumatic headache was more frequent after mild traumatic brain injury than mild orthopedic injury, β (95% confidence interval) = 0.80 (0.05, 1.55). Groups did not differ in other examined headache features and classification any time postinjury. Conclusions: Posttraumatic headache risk increases after mild traumatic brain injury relative to mild orthopedic injury for approximately three months postinjury, but is not clearly associated with a distinct phenotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex differences after concussion have been studied largely in high school and college athletes, often without reference to comparison groups without concussion. This study sought to evaluate sex differences in outcomes among all children and adolescents presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) for either mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) or orthopedic injury (OI), regardless of mechanism of injury. The study involved a concurrent cohort, prospective study design with longitudinal follow-up. Participants were eight to 16 years old with mild TBI (n = 143) or OI (n = 73). They were recruited and completed an initial assessment at EDs at two children's hospitals. They returned for a post-acute assessment within two weeks of injury and for follow-up assessments at three and six months. Outcomes included child and parent proxy ratings of somatic and cognitive symptoms, and standardized tests of cognitive functioning and balance. Sex did not moderate group differences in balance, fluid or crystallized cognitive ability, or child or parent proxy ratings of somatic or cognitive symptoms. Both parents and children reported more somatic symptoms in girls than boys, but in both groups. Compared with the OI group, the mild TBI group showed significantly lower fluid cognitive ability at the post-acute assessment and significantly higher somatic and cognitive symptoms according to both child and parent proxy ratings across the first two weeks post-injury. The results suggest that sex does not moderate the outcomes of mild TBI in a pediatric ED population. Previous research pointing to sex differences after concussion may reflect the lack of comparison groups, as well as a focus on adolescents and young adults and sport-related concussion. Future research should investigate whether sex moderates the outcomes of pediatric mild TBI in adolescents but not in pre-adolescent children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first to examine cognitive outcomes after pediatric mild TBI using the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB), a computerized cognitive test battery. The NIHTB-CB includes two complex measures of attention and executive function that allow differentiation of accuracy and response speed. We compared performance on the NIHTB-CB among children 8–16 years of age with mild TBI (n = 143) versus children with orthopedic injuries (OIs; n = 74) recruited in emergency departments and followed for 6 months post-injury. Mixed-model analyses showed that the mild TBI group showed significantly lower Fluid Cognition composite scores than the OI group at 10 days (group intercept, p = 0.018); the magnitude of group differences declined modestly over time (group × time interaction, p = 0.055). Effect sizes were d = 0.34 at 10 days post-injury, d = 0.27 at 3 months, and d = 0.10 at 6 months. No significant effects of group or time were found for the Crystallized Cognition composite. Analyses of Fluid Cognition subtests indicated that children with mild TBI displayed deficits for as long as 3 months on measures of attention and executive function (e.g., cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control), but not on measures of explicit memory, working memory, or processing speed. The poorer performance of the mild TBI group on measures of attention and executive function was attributable largely to slowed reaction time, not decreased accuracy. The findings suggest that children with mild TBI demonstrate persistent deficits in fluid cognition that are most apparent on tasks that combine demands for both speed and executive function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of brain morphometry may illuminate the effects of pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (TBI; e.g., concussion). However, no published studies have examined cortical thickness in the early injury phases of pediatric mild TBI using an appropriate comparison group. The current study used an automated approach (i.e., FreeSurfer) to determine whether cortical thickness differed in children following a mild TBI or a mild orthopedic injury (OI), and to examine whether post-acute cortical thickness predicted post-acute and chronic post-concussive symptoms (PCS). Children ages 8.00-16.99 years with mild TBI (n = 136) or OI (n = 70) were recruited at emergency department visits to two children's hospitals, during which parents rated children's pre-injury symptoms retrospectively. Children completed a post-acute (3–24 days post-injury) assessment, which included a 3 Tesla MRI, and 3- and 6-month post-injury assessments. Parents and children rated PCS at each assessment. Cortical thickness was estimated using FreeSurfer. Linear mixed effects and multi-variable negative binomial regression models were used to test study aims, with false discovery rate (FDR) correction for multiple comparisons. Groups differed significantly on left parietal cortical thickness (TBI > OI) after FDR correction. Cortical thickness also varied by brain subregion and age, but not sex. Groups differed significantly on PCS post-acutely (TBI > OI), but not at 3 or 6 months. Right frontal thickness was positively related to post-acute PCS in both groups. Right cingulum thickness predicted chronic PCS in the OI group only. Results highlight the complexity of predicting outcomes of pediatric mild TBI from post-acute neuroimaging biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE. We examined whether mild traumatic brain injuries in children and adolescents, especially when associated with acute clinical features reflecting more severe injury, result in different postinjury trajectories of postconcussive symptoms compared with mild orthopedic injuries. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS. Participants in this prospective and longitudinal cohort study were 8- to 15-year-old children, 186 with mild traumatic brain injuries and 99 with mild orthopedic injuries, who were recruited from consecutive admissions to emergency departments in 2 large children's hospitals. Parents rated current postconcussive symptoms within 3 weeks of injury and at 1, 3, and 12 months after injury. At the initial assessment, parents also provided retrospective ratings of preinjury symptoms, and children with mild traumatic brain injuries received MRI of the brain. Clinical features examined as predictors of postconcussive symptoms included loss of consciousness, Glasgow Coma Scale score below 15, other injuries, acute symptoms of concussion, and intracranial abnormalities on the MRI. RESULTS. Finite mixture modeling identified 4 longitudinal trajectories of postconcussive symptoms (ie, no postconcussive symptoms, moderate persistent postconcussive symptoms, high acute/resolved postconcussive symptoms, high acute/persistent postconcussive symptoms). The mild traumatic brain injuries and orthopedic injuries groups demonstrated a different distribution of trajectories. Children with mild traumatic brain injuries were more likely than those with orthopedic injuries to demonstrate high acute/resolved and high acute/persistent trajectories relative to the no postconcussive symptoms group. The 2 trajectories with high acute levels of postconcussive symptoms were especially likely among children with mild traumatic brain injuries whose acute clinical presentation reflected more severe injury. CONCLUSIONS. Mild traumatic brain injuries, particularly those that are more severe, are more likely than orthopedic injuries to result in transient or persistent increases in postconcussive symptoms in the first year after injury. Additional research is needed to elucidate the range of factors, both injury related and non-injury related, that place some children with mild traumatic brain injuries at risk for postconcussive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]