Parent and Child Agreement of Brain Injury Perceptions Following Pediatric Concussion

Objective To determine the agreement of parent and child responses to the Brain Injury Perception Scale (BIPS), a modified version of the Illness Perceptions Questionnaire-Revised, following a pediatric concussion. Method This was a cross-sectional study of 88 parent–child dyads who completed the BIPS at their initial visit to a specialty concussion clinic within 30 days following pediatric (11–18 years of age) concussion. Descriptive statistics were calculated, followed by Spearman’s rho (ρ), which assessed parent–child item consistency. Cross-tab tables were used to understand the direction of item consistency. Results Only five (13.2%) out of 38 BIPS items demonstrated parent–child consistency (p < .05), with both disagreeing that the brain injury is permanent (ρ = .27), will have major consequences on their life (ρ = .25), makes them upset (ρ = .22), will strongly affect the way others see them (ρ = .29), and will be with them for the rest of their life (ρ = .22). Conclusions Parent–child agreement regarding brain injury perceptions following a pediatric concussion was low (13%), reflecting the importance of assessing and then addressing parent and child perceptions individually in pediatric concussion management.