Objective: (1) To determine the impact of providing participants aged 8 to 17 years who are slow to recover after a concussion with a well-developed active rehabilitation intervention (ARI), compared with receiving standard care alone, on postconcussion symptoms (PCS) at 2 and 6 weeks after the initiation of ARI; and (2) to investigate functional recovery 6 weeks after initiation of ARI.
Design: A multicenter prospective quasi-experimental control group design.
Setting: Tertiary care pediatric trauma center and community health care providers.
Participants: Forty-nine youth were enrolled (experimental n = 36; control n = 13).
Procedures: Participants were assessed on 3 different occasions: (1) initial visit (baseline); (2) 2 weeks; and (3) 6 weeks after enrollment.
Main outcome measures: Child- and parent-reported PCS were obtained by the PCS Inventory Scale (primary outcome). Secondary outcomes included: (1) mood and anxiety; (2) quality of life; (3) energy level; (4) coordination and balance; (5) neurocognition; (6) parental anxiety; and (7) satisfaction with intervention.
Results: Both groups reported decrease of PCS over time (child: P = 0.01; parent: P = 0.03). Children in the experimental group presented higher quality of life (P = 0.04) and less anger (P = 0.02). A trend toward significance was observed for better tandem gait (P = 0.07) and for less general fatigue on self-reported PCS (P = 0.09) in the experimental group.
Conclusions: Active rehabilitation intervention does not affect the PCS beyond the usual management, but it increases their quality of life, decreases anger, and potentially increases energy level and balance.