The frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in athletes with and without sports related concussion

• Published in: Clinical and translational medicine 2018-07, Vol.7 (1), p.1-9
• Main Authors: Brassil, Heather E., Salvatore, Anthony P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clinical medicine; Concussion; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; mTBI; Post traumatic stress disorder; Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms; Sport concussion
• ISSN: 2001-1326; 2001-1326
• DOI: 10.1186/s40169-018-0200-y

Background Purpose of this study is to investigate the presence and frequency of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in post-concussed (PC) athletes compared to a group of healthy control (HC) athletes. Research design and method A pre and post-test group design was used to compare a post-concussed group to a matched healthy control group of athletes. An archival database which included PC (n = 62) and HC (n = 62) participants matched on age, years of education and gender who completed a test battery at baseline and post injury, The test battery was comprised of a neurocognitive assessment, self-reported symptom inventory and PTSD symptom questionnaire. Post-concussion assessment was obtained within 0–13 days post-injury. Results PTSD symptom scores were greater in PC post injury group ( Mdn  = 0) than for the HC group ( Mdn  = 0.0), U  = 1282.0, p  = 0.000, r  = 0.34. A Wilcoxon Signed-ranks test indicated that PTSD symptom scores post-injury ( Mdn  = 0) were significantly higher than pre-injury ( Mdn  = 0), Z  = − 2.75, p  = 0.000, r  = 0.35. Within the PC post injury group athletes having “difficulty sleeping” was the highest reported symptom an average of 25.8% followed by “avoiding similar situations” at an average of 19.4%. “Having trouble keeping thoughts of incident out of your head” was reported at an average of 17.7% and “flashbacks” were reported at an average of 12.9%. “Nightmares” and “feeling numb and detached” were reported at an average of 8.1 and 6.5% respectively. Conclusion Athletes who reported no PTSD symptoms prior to sports related concussion do exhibit symptoms of PTSD. Providing a PTSD symptom questionnaire may provide a more comprehensive treatment plan for PC post injury athletes who may be at risk of chronic PTSD symptoms.