Study: Recovery time doubles if teens play with concussion

Continuing to play despite a concussion doubles recovery time for teen athletes and leads to worse short-term mental function than for those immediately removed from action, a study found.

It’s billed as the first to compare recovery outcomes for athletes removed from a game or practice compared with those who aren’t. The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, was small, involving 69 teens treated at a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center concussion clinic, but the results bolster evidence supporting the growing number of return-to-play laws and policies nationwide.

The study involved athletes aged 15 on average from several sports, including football, soccer, ice hockey and basketball, who had concussions during a game or practice. Half continued to play and took 44 days on average to recover from symptoms, versus 22 days for those who were immediately sidelined.

Sidelined players reported symptoms immediately, like dizziness, headaches, mental fogginess and fatigue, and were diagnosed with concussions by trainers or team physicians. The others, who continued playing for 19 minutes on average, delayed reporting symptoms and were diagnosed later.

Those who continued to play had worse scores on mental function tests performed eight days after the concussion and 30 days after the concussion. Medical records showed mental function had been similar for all the players before their concussions.

The study results show that a prolonged recovery is another risk from returning to play too soon — one that “no one had really calculated” until now, said Dr. Allen Sills, a neurosurgeon who was not involved in the research.