Postconcussion syndrome following sports-related head injury: expectation as etiology.

Full Abstract

Mild head trauma is often complicated by a persistent set of symptoms known as postconcussion syndrome (PCS). Past research has suggested that an expectancy-guided, retrospective-recall bias may account for much of the variance in PCS symptom reporting. The present study examined the influence of symptom expectations on mild head trauma symptom reports among participants in contact sports. Head-injured athletes reported symptom rates that did not differ from those of uninjured athletes but consistently underestimated the preinjury incidence of symptoms. Athletes with no head trauma history overestimated the expected degree of pre- to postinjury change in symptom status. Results suggest that individuals with mild head injury tend to overestimate postconcussion symptom change in a manner consistent with their symptom expectations. A cognitive-behavioral model that explains the persistence of PCS is proposed.

Author information

Author/s: Ferguson, R J (RJ); Mittenberg, W (W); Barone, D F (DF); Schneider, B (B);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, New Hampshire 03756, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Neuropsychology (Neuropsychology), published in UNITED STATES. (Language: eng)

Reference: 1999-Oct; vol 13 (issue 4) : pp 582-9

Dates: Created 1999/11/18; Completed 1999/11/18; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 10527067, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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