Date of Award

Spring 2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

Public Health

Director of Thesis

Robert Moore

Second Reader

Jacob Kay

Abstract

This study ultimately aimed to find how different extra-clinical factors correlate with different aspects of concussion recovery. This study evaluated 8 different independent variables and their correlation to 4 different dependent variables (that are composed of 11 sub-dependent variables). It was hypothesized that these predictive variables will have a statistically significant impact on somatic, psychological, and cognitive outcomes. Additionally, it was hypothesized that the majority of these predictive factors will have the largest statistically significant impact on cognitive outcomes and that time to biological sex, age, prior concussion history, and household income (in that respective order) would have the strongest predictive value of recovery outcomes of the studied predictors, while time to first visit after injury, perceived parental knowledge, BMI, and ethnicity would have the least strong predictive value of recovery outcomes. The predictive factors were run through a multiple regression analysis and sub-analysis was done for the results that showed most significance. It was found that somatic outcomes, then followed by psychological symptoms, were the subsections of concussive outcome measures that were most significantly predicted by the independent variables. It was notably found that RPQ-16, or the full Rivermead Post Concussion Symptom Questionnaire (R-PCS-Q), saw the highest variation (approximately 15%) accounted for by the socially-determinant predictive factors. With sex, time to first evaluation after injury, and perceived parental knowledge being the three most important/predictive (p < 0.05), it can be reasonably inferred that somatic symptom severity following a concussion in a pediatric population can be heightened based on these social classifications. This study suggests that socially determinant factors do influence recovery from a pediatric concussion, with more significant influence on somatic symptomatology.

First Page

1

Last Page

43

Rights

© 2024, Jaimeen Shah

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