Kids with concussions may recover faster if they return to school within 2 days: study

Prolonged absences from school and other life activities after an acute concussion may be damaging to recovery for children and youths, a recent study has found.

The study, published on Jan. 20 in JAMA Network Open, analyzed data from 1,630 children and youths aged five to 18 years old conducted between August 2013 and June 2015 in nine pediatric emergency departments within the Pediatric Emergency Research Canada network.

The current guidance recommends patients get 24 to 48 hours of rest after a concussion. Then they should be eased into carrying out physical and cognitive activities, followed by a gradual return to school with support and accommodations.

Although there is evidence showing that early return to physical activity is beneficial for concussion recovery, there is a lack of research looking at the associations between return-to-school timing and symptom recovery, the study stated.

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The new study has confirmed that an early return to school is important for children’s recovery after a concussion, according to Dr. Roger Zemek, the study’s senior author and a pediatric emergency physician at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.