This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Chan, R. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Chan, R. C. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Base rate of post-concussion symptoms among normal people and its neuropsychological correlates

Department of Psychiatry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Objective: To explore the base rate of symptoms similar to those of post-concussion symptoms (PCS) among a group of participants without head injury. The effect of subjective complaints upon cognitive functioning was also examined.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Participants: A total of 85 participants without head injury, other identifiable neurological diseases or psychiatric diseases were recruited.

Outcome measures: These included Rivermead Post-concussion Symptoms Checklist, Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, Colour Trails Test, Stroop Word-Colour Test, Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test, Symbol Digits Modality Test, Word Fluency Test, Design Fluency Test, Digits Forward and Backward Span Test, and Modified Six Elements Test.

Results: A relatively high proportion of the participants reported symptoms similar to those of patients with PCS. These included longer time to think (65.9%), forgetfulness (58.9%), poor concentration (58.9%), fatigue easily (53.5%), and sleep disturbances (50.6%). Gender effect was not significant for either the individual item or the total score of the Rivermead Post-concussion Symptoms Checklist. Moreover, there was no difference found between low symptom reporters and high symptom reporters in terms of attention, working memory, mental fluency, and strategy allocation.

Conclusion: The base rates of symptoms were consistent with previous studies among the nonclinical groups. However, persons reporting a high score of concussion-like symptoms did not perform less well than those reporting a low score of symptoms in attention, working memory, mental fluency and strategy allocation.

Clinical Rehabilitation, Vol. 15, No. 3, 266-273 (2001)
DOI: 10.1191/026921501675253420


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. H. Smith Postconcussional Symptoms Not a Syndrome Psychosomatics, June 1, 2006; 47(3): 271 - 272. [Full Text] [PDF]

				S E Wall, W H Williams, S Cartwright-Hatton, T P Kelly, J Murray, M Murray, A Owen, and M Turner Neuropsychological dysfunction following repeat concussions in jockeys J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, April 1, 2006; 77(4): 518 - 520. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]