Concussion and Academic Impairment Among U.S. High School Students

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Prev Med
• Personal Author:
  Lowry, Richard ; Haarbauer-Krupa, Juliet K. ; Breiding, Matthew J. ; Thigpen, Sally ; Rasberry, Catherine N. ; Lee, Sarah M.
• Description:
  Introduction:
  
  Sports and physical activities are a frequent cause of traumatic brain injury, primarily concussions, among adolescents. These concussions may adversely affect students’ ability to learn and impair academic achievement in educational settings.
  
  Methods:
  
  The 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted among a nationally representative sample of 14,765 U.S. high school students, was analyzed in 2018 to examine associations between self-reported sports- and physical activity-related concussions and symptoms of cognitive impairment (difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions) and self-reported academic grades (mostly A’s=4.0, mostly B’s=3.0, mostly C’s=2.0, mostly D’s=1.0, mostly F’s=0.0). Adjusted prevalence ratio and the difference in self-reported estimated grade point average were adjusted for sex, race/ethnicity, grade, and athlete status (participation on sports teams) and considered statistically significant if p<0.05.
  
  Results:
  
  Male students were more likely than female students (17.1% vs 13.0%), and athletes were more likely than nonathletes (21.4% vs 7.6%) to have a self-reported sports- and physical activity-related concussion in the 12 months preceding the survey. Students with a reported sports- and physical activity-related concussion were more likely than students without one to report symptoms of cognitive impairment regardless of whether they were male (adjusted prevalence ratio=1.49), female (adjusted prevalence ratio=1.37), athletes (adjusted prevalence ratio=1.45), or nonathletes (adjusted prevalence ratio=1.42). Self-reported grade point averagedecreased significantly from 3.14 among students who reported no concussions (referent), to 3.04 among students who reported a single concussion, and 2.81 among students who reported ≥2 concussions.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  School-based programs are needed to monitor students’ academic performance and provide educational support and resources to promote academic success following a concussion.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Academic Performance Adolescent Athletes Athletic Injuries Brain Concussion Cognitive Dysfunction Cross-Sectional Studies Female Humans Male Prevalence Risk Factors Schools Self Report Sex Factors Students United States

  More +
• Source:
  Am J Prev Med. 57(6):733-740
• Pubmed ID:
  31753255
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10956705
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  57
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:136676bc9ed502b42f85e3107867d30fa638b932696ba11acdddf6426f613ef2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/153474/cdc_153474_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 355.62 KB ]