In a study that looked at data over a 10-year period, York University researchers, in collaboration with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), found that more than two-thirds of youth and children with an acute concussion do not seek medical followup or clearance as recommended by current international concussion guidelines.
In a study that looked at data over a 10-year period, York University researchers, in collaboration with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), found that more than two-thirds of youth and children with an acute concussion do not seek medical followup or clearance as recommended by current international concussion guidelines.
In one of the first studies in Canada to look at pediatric concussion and followup, Professor Alison Macpherson in the Faculty of Health, School of Kinesiology & Health Science at York University, and former York University PhD student Liraz Fridman conducted research that included data from over 120,000 children five to 19 years of age. The goal of the study was to determine whether children and youth with concussion receive followup visits in accordance with the recommended guidelines.
The team looked at population-based administrative data housed at ICES from all concussion-related visits to emergency departments and physician offices in Ontario from 2003 to 2013.
Researchers analyzed the percentage of children and youth seen for followup. Over the decade of study, the data showed that there was an increase in the number of children who sought followup care after being evaluated for a concussion by 2013, but more than two-thirds still did not receive followup care in accordance with international recommended guidelines.
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