The increasing incidence rates of concussive injuries, specifically among the youth age demographic, has led to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to classify these injuries as a “silent epidemic.” While symptoms from concussion typically remit within four weeks, many experience symptoms that persist beyond what is typically expected. For children, the persistence of symptoms can have damaging side-effects that impact daily functioning and the progression through developmental and educational milestones. Recent research highlights factors that modify the nature of outcomes after a concussive injury. For youth-aged individuals, one such factor is the presence of premorbid conditions. A growing body of research suggests children with learning disorders (LDs) may be more susceptible to negative symptom outcomes across neuropsychological domains. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to further examine the influence of developmental learning disorders on concussion outcomes among youths.

Youths between 7 and 19 years of age that sought care at a concussion specialty clinic were screened for inclusion in the current study. The final sample of included 54 patients who reported having a neurodevelopmental LD between the ages of 8 and 17 and 54 patients without LDs matched on age, race/ethnicity, and gender to serve as paired case-controls. Measures of post-concussive physical symptoms (Modified Balance Error Scoring System; Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders: Neuro-QoL-SD, Neuro-QoL-F), emotional state (BAI, BDI), parent report measure of behavioral manifestations of cognitive functioning (Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function), and select measures from the CogState automated test battery (i.e., One-Back, Two-Back, Groton Maze Learning, and Groton Maze Recall) were administered during the patient’s first examination at the clinic. Patients were instructed by the provider to follow-up at the clinic between two-three weeks for a repeat examination. The current study examined concussion outcome variables via two (group: LD, control) by two (time: initial examination, follow-up examination) repeated measures ANCOVAs where time between injury and the first examination was included as a covariate to control for the duration of elapsed days since injury.

Regarding cognitive symptoms, parent reported behaviors associated with executive functioning symptoms increased over time to reach clinically significant levels for the LD group, while symptoms decreased and remained within normal limits for the control group. Performance-based measures of cognition revealed no significant interactions or group/time differences. Additionally, the LD group showed more intense balance problems compared to the control group and symptom trends suggest LD participants may be more susceptible to prolonged, clinically significant, balance problems. With respect to sleep disturbances and fatigue, symptoms remained within normal limits across groups and time. Depression and anxiety symptoms remained within normal limits across groups and time as well.

Results highlight more intense balance problems and parent-reported executive dysfunction following concussion for youths with LDs compared to those without LDs. Additionally, though not significantly different

than the control group, results reveal several symptom domains in which the level of dysfunction meets clinical significance for the LD group participants only. As such, this study highlights the continued need for the scientific study of risk factors for vulnerable populations to aid in assessment and prevention efforts, especially for youths with LD.