Head Injury Center

In the recent times, many cases of concussions have been reported as a result of serious head injuries in children as well as adults during accidents, violence and sports such as hockey, football, skiing. There has been a growing concern regarding concussions and due to the awareness created, people have started following preventive measures to avoid head injuries.

Even then, a McMaster University researcher has found that head injuries that occur in daily life are not taken as seriously as they should be.

Professor Carol DeMatteo, School of Rehabilitation Science, conducted a study of children who had suffered a head injury. She found that some children who were labeled with concussion did not spend much time at the hospital. In fact, these children returned back to school earlier than other children with head injuries that were not diagnosed as concussions. Professor DeMatteo who is also a therapist by occupation and an associate member of CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster said that children with serious head injuries could have a concussion. Concussion is less severe as compared to mild traumatic brain injury. In concussions, there is no damage to the brain structure and it has symptoms that can pass. In spite of this, concussion can be dangerous and its consequences should not be ignored.

The research team led by Professor DeMatteo made a deep analysis of the medical records of 434 children who were admitted at the McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton due to acquired brain injury for more than 2 years. The research was funded by Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) and the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation (ONF). Out of the 434 children, 341 were diagnosed for a traumatic brain injury and the severity score of 300 children was recorded. Out of these 300 children, 32 percent were diagnosed for concussion and these were the children who spent a lesser amount of time in the hospital than the other children. DeMatteo said that when a child is diagnosed with a concussion, the family members do not consider it as a serious brain injury. Taking the children back and allowing them to attend school sooner can be quite risky. The children may show a poor performance in school or keep thinking that something is wrong with them.

Professor DeMatteo was of the opinion that the use of the term mild traumatic brain injury in place of concussion can assist people to understand the gravity of concussion in a better way which eventually will help them to decide accordingly.

Credit
Concussions Not Taken Seriously Enough, Researcher Finds