For children aged 5-18, concussion is associated with an increased risk for mental health problems, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Andrée Anne Ledoux, PhD, and colleagues examined the associations between concussion and the risk for subsequent mental health issues, psychiatric hospitalizations, self-harm, or suicides in a population-based retrospective cohort study involving children and adolescents with a concussion or orthopedic injury between April 1, 2010, and March 31, 2020. Data were included for 152,321 children and adolescents with concussion and 296,482 with orthopedic injury, matched by age and sex. Incidence rates of any mental health problem were 11,141 and 7,960 per 100,000 person-years in those exposed and unexposed to concussion, respectively. Those exposed to concussion had an increased risk for developing a mental health issue (adjusted HR [aHR], 1.39), self-harm (aHR, 1.49), and psychiatric hospitalization (aHR, 1.47) after a concussion. No statistically significant difference was seen in death by suicide for those with and without concussion.
