Impact of Prior Concussions on Health-Related Quality of Life in Collegiate Athletes

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how self-reported sport-related concussion history affects health-related quality of life in collegiate athletes. DESIGN: Cross sectional. SETTING: Division I university, Division II university, and a junior college. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred two collegiate athletes (210 men, 92 women). ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS: Participants completed a demographic information sheet and concussion history form; they were then grouped by number of previous self-reported concussions, designated as 0, 1-2, or 3+. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Medical Outcomes Short Form (SF-36) and the Headache Impact Test (HIT-6). RESULTS: Significant differences between groups were found for the bodily pain, vitality, and social functioning subscales of the SF-36. The 3+ group had significantly lower scores for bodily pain (48.1 ± 8.9) compared with the 1-2 group (P = 0.028, 52.1 ± 7.7) and 0 group (P < 0.01, 53.5 ± 8.3), for vitality (52.4 ± 8.4) compared with the 0 group (P = 0.011, 55.9 ± 8.6), and for social functioning (48.5 ± 9.4) compared with the 1-2 group (P = 0.028, 51.6 ± 7.3) and 0 group (P = 0.003, 51.9 ± 8.1). Significant differences were noted on the HIT-6 total score. The 3+ group reported greater impact of headache (46.7 ± 6.4) than the 1-2 group (P = 0.05, 44.6 ± 6.4) and 0 group (P < 0.001, 42.9 ± 5.8). The 1-2 group also had higher HIT-6 scores than the 0 group (P = 0.033). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that a collegiate athlete's perception of bodily pain, vitality, social functioning, and headache is adversely affected by previous sport-related concussions. However, by incorporating general and specific outcome measures into the standard evaluation of sport-related concussion, the clinician can better determine how the athlete is responding to treatment and recovery.