There is a high incidence of concussion in adolescents, regardless of sport participation, and may
require evaluation by a physical therapist or other qualified healthcare provider. A retrospective
study was performed to identify clinical differences between adolescent patients who sustained a
sport-related concussion (SRC) and non-sport-related concussion (nSRC) at the time of their
physical therapy evaluation. More specifically, measures of cervical spine function, postconcussion
symptom severity, and quality of life measures were examined. There were 257
patients in the SRC group and 248 patients in the nSRC group between the ages of 10 and 18
years of age with mean age at the time of physical therapy being 14.75 and 15.07 years,
respectively.
Comparisons between the SRC and nSRC group were conducted to determine if there were
statistically significant differences in cervical range of motion, headache response with cervical
spine palpation, post-concussion symptom inventory (PCSI) reports, Pediatric Quality of Life
scores, and other patient-specific characteristics between the groups. Demographic data between
the groups did not demonstrate significant differences. Statistically significant differences were
found as patients after nSRC had greater cervical spine impairments, worse scores on both PCSI
and PedsQL™, and had greater likelihood of presence of headache at the time of physical
therapy evaluation as compared to patients with an SRC.
Physical therapists can utilize this information to anticipate the examination and evaluation needs
of a patient coming in for physical therapy following concussion.