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Double Concussions and Cognitive Dysfunction: A Population Study of Young Men

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2012

Thomas W. Teasdale,
Aase W. Engberg and
Linda G. Holte
Thomas W. Teasdale*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Aase W. Engberg
Affiliation:
Department of Neurorehabilitation, Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark
Linda G. Holte
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
*
Address for correspondence: Associate Professor T.W. Teasdale, PhD Dr.Med.Sci., Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 2A, 1353 Copenhagen K, Denmark. E-mail: tom.teasdale@psy.ku.dk
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Abstract

Aims: To determine whether double concussions can result in longer-lasting cognitive dysfunctioning than a single concussion and/or whether cognitive dysfunction is a greater risk factor for double concussions than for a single concussion.

Method: Through a national hospitalisation database, 2753 men were found who, at ages between infancy and early adulthood, had, on two separate occasions, been briefly hospitalised after a concussion. This cohort was compared with a previously obtained and comparable sample of men who had suffered a single concussion. From Draft Board records a dichotomised index was obtained indicating whether or not they had performed at or above a cut-off total score on a cognitive screening test involving four timed subtests, below cut-off being considered as dysfunctional.

Findings: For all age groups, double concussions were associated with higher rates of cognitive dysfunction than single concussions. This was especially true where the concussion(s) had occurred after cognitive testing [odds ratio = 2.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.92–3.36]. Where double concussions had occurred before cognitive testing but after age 12, cognitive dysfunction was more prevalent when the interval between concussions was less than 1 month than at longer intervals (odds ratio = 3.91, 95%CI = 1.14–13.34). It is concluded that cognitive dysfunction in young men is a risk factor for repeat concussions; at the same time cognitive dysfunction can also be a long-term consequence of two concussions occurring in close temporal proximity.

Keywords

concussioncognitive dysfunction

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Type
Articles
Information
Brain Impairment , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , September 2012, pp. 197 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

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