Download or read book Changes in Mood State Subsequent to Concussion in Collegiate Student-athletes written by Denise Vagt and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Objective: This study examined mood changes that occurred in student-athletes after they sustained a sports related concussion (SRC). Previous research has demonstrated an increase in depressive symptoms following SRC and other non-head related injuries. However, the prevalence and relative intensities of these depressive symptoms in student-athlete populations have not been fully investigated. This study will provide athletes, trainers, physicians, and other related staff with additional information about expected mood changes following injury that will allow swifter and more targeted interventions. Method: All athletes at an NCAA Division II university completed baseline assessments that included both cognitive and affective measures. Athletes who sustained a SRC during the following academic year completed the assessment battery again, including affective measures, at 24-48 hours post trauma, approximately 7-10 days post-trauma, and in follow-up evaluations as needed. A control group of same aged college peers who did not experience a concussion during the time period they participated in the study also completed a brief mood measure at three time points during the study year. Differences among the mood measure scores between the concussed student-athlete group and the control group were examined. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a brief depression screener, was the primary mood measure used. Results: Initial baseline PHQ-9 scores were significantly higher for the SRC group than the control group. Relative change from baseline to post-trauma was significantly different between the groups, with the SRC group demonstrating an increase in depressive symptoms after concussion injury compared to non-injured controls. However, this increase in depressive symptoms resolved and PHQ-9 scores returned to baseline levels for the SRC group at follow-up; PHQ-9 score for the control group remained stable over time. Examination of a brief three item list of mood related symptoms from a larger symptom inventory revealed the same pattern of performance: individuals in the SRC group tended to endorse more negative mood changes with greater severity during their post-trauma evaluation than they did at baseline or follow-up. Conclusions: There is an increase in student-athlete endorsement of depressive symptoms after sustaining a concussion as compared to non-injured controls. However, this increase is not great enough to increase the mean PHQ-9 score into the clinical range, indicating post-trauma depression screening scores, on average, are still in the non-clinical range. After sustaining a concussion injury student-athletes are more likely to report depressive symptoms during the window of 24 hours to 7-10 days post-trauma. This indicates interventions targeted at alleviating mood change after concussion need to be implemented within 1-3 days post-trauma and emphasizes the importance of early detection in this population.