Concussions due to occupational or vehicular accidents lead to longer, more extensive recovery compared to sports concussions
By Kira Kunzman. This article was initially published in the 1/9/25 edition of our Concussion Update newsletter; please consider subscribing.
Concussions can occur in a multitude of settings—including in sports, the workplace, and motor vehicle accidents—but research has seldom compared the clinical characteristics of concussions across these three particular settings. A recent retrospective review conducted by McPherson et al. revealed that recovery took more than seven times as long for individuals with concussions due to work or vehicle accidents compared to those with concussions due to sports. Additionally, compared to individuals with sport-related concussion (SRC), the time between sustained injury and clinic visit was 5 times and 10 times longer for individuals with work-related concussion (WRC) and motor-vehicle concussion (MVC), respectively.
These findings, published in Brain Injury, could be a result of a variety of factors. One potential consideration is that WRC and MVC concussion patients were older, on average, which may have contributed to these patients requiring a more extensive recovery process than those with SRCs.
In this study, the authors reviewed electronic medical records from 281 patients with clinically diagnosed concussions: 144 SRC, 96 WRC, and 41 MVC. Researchers compared a multitude of aspects across patients, including demographics, clinical care, and patient outcomes. Notably, the data showed that patients who experienced WRCs or MVC-related concussions were significantly older than those who experienced SRCs; as a result, individuals with SRCs may have greater support from parents/guardians, fewer responsibilities (e.g., occupational demands) and may be less impacted by financial strain compared to older individuals with WRCs or MVC-related concussions. The study was limited by the difficulty of controlling for individual characteristics and confounding variables, and it encouraged further research to account for these aspects. This research underscores the need for clinical management guidelines for populations outside of sports, as many mTBI guidelines are aimed toward young athletes.
