Medical Research
January 31, 2020
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Current concussion symptom reports, while useful for identifying concussion, are not specific enough. They include symptoms such as headache and dizziness that lack specificity and do not reflect current approaches to clinical care involving concussion subtypes or clinical profiles.
This study introduces and provides empirical support for a new brief, valid and reliable symptom inventory- the Concussion Clinical Profiles Screening inventory (CP-Screen)- that can help identify concussion profiles.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: The initial findings indicate that the CP-Screen was able to accurately identify 93% of concussed patients and controls, which is higher than any currently available tools.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: When we ask more specific questions- such as “Do you have a headache in the morning?” or “Do you have a headache after physical activity?” instead of simply, “Do you have a headache?” we can identify different concussion symptom profiles that can help guide more effective, targeted treatments. These more specific symptoms items will also enable clinicians to track symptoms and recovery across five profiles- anxiety/mood, cognitive, migraine, ocular, vestibular- and two modifiers- sleep and neck.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?
Response: Moving forward, we need to evaluate if CP-Screen scores change based on time since injury and in response to targeted treatments.
MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Response: Unlike many “tools” designed to assess concussion, the CP-Screen is free and only takes only 5 min to complete.