Multidisciplinary care for patients with persistent symptoms following concussion: a systematic review

Abstract

Purpose

To systematically characterize and assess the effectiveness of multidisciplinary care for patients with persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS).

Materials and Methods

Only studies describing multidisciplinary treatment, defined as intervention provided by no less than 2 healthcare disciplines, each with independent scopes of practice, for patients with PPCS were considered.

Results

A total of 8 of the 1357 studies identified were included. The studies were comprised of heterogenous patient populations, care delivery systems, healthcare providers, treatment approaches, and outcomes.

Conclusions

Findings suggest multidisciplinary care, using a needs-based approach with individual- or group-based interventions, may be more beneficial than usual care to; 1) immediately reduce concussion-related symptom complaints and improve mood and quality of life in adolescents following sports-related concussion (SRC) and, 2) may produce immediate and lasting improvements in symptom complaints of young, primarily female, adults following a non-SRC. Future studies should clearly describe the decision-making processes used to deliver care through a needs-based approach and prioritize the inclusion of objective, performance-based measures to assess outcomes.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Multidisciplinary care using a needs-based approach with the individual- and group-based interventions, may be more beneficial than usual care.

• Younger populations, particularly females, seem to benefit most from multidisciplinary care to decrease the burden of post-concussion symptoms.

• Multidisciplinary care teams should consider providing psychological support and education combined with cognitive retraining and pharmacologic intervention to address persistent post-concussion symptoms.

Keywords:

• Concussion
• mild TBI
• persistent symptoms
• multidisciplinary
• treatment

Acknowledgments

No acknowledgements.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.