Children and youth who suffer a mild traumatic brain injury or concussion are at risk for a number of negative outcomes. The symptoms of concussion and the management of these symptoms can be disruptive to the child’s everyday activities, especially if they are prolonged. Depression can result and may complicate the course of recovery. Depression has overlapping symptoms with concussion and is thought to lengthen the recovery period. There has been much research done in populations of mixed severities of brain injury but very little addresses children with concussion. Knowledge in this area is crucial due to depression’s impact on all aspects of functioning as well as the potential alteration of the child’s developmental trajectory. The purpose of this research was to examine the risks and predictors of depression following concussion in youth and to explore the experiences of a subsample of youth and their families with prolonged recovery from concussion, complicated by depression. Chapter One provides a review of the current literature setting the context for the research within what is known about concussion in youth, what is known about depression in youth and because of the early stages of this type of research, what is known about depression as an outcome of concussion in all age groups. Chapter Two presents a study highlighting the tangible risk for depression in a sample of children being followed in a tertiary care clinic (N=92). Significant predictors of depressive symptomatology were found to be the need for hospital admission and high symptom scores in the first few days and weeks after injury, which may be valuable information for prevention, early identification and treatment of youth at risk for depression after concussion. Chapter Three provides an in-depth exploration of the experiences of youth and families who have gone through prolonged recovery from concussion with significant depressive symptomatology. A phenomenological approach was used with six participants and their families who were interviewed and their responses analyzed. A trajectory of recovery was identified; common themes within each of four key stages of the trajectory were discussed and illustrated using direct quotes from the participants. Chapter Four outlines the important implications of these two studies for health care professionals; particularly in raising awareness of the mental health outcomes of concussion. Knowledge of the impact of debilitating symptoms, activity restrictions and depression can inform discussions early after a concussion to prepare and possibly prevent some of the losses experienced by youth that can lead to depression. / Thesis / Master of Science Rehabilitation Science (MSc)

Atliktas perspektyvusis stebėjimo tyrimas, kurio metu buvo tirti sunkią galvos smegenų traumą patyrę vaikai, gydyti KMUK Vaikų intensyviosios terapijos skyriuje. Pacientų būklė pagal GBS vertinta išvykstant iš gydymo įstaigos ir po šešių mėnesių. Darbo tikslas Nustatyti sunkią galvos smegenų traumą patyrusių vaikų ligos baigčių prognozinius veiksnius. Darbo uždaviniai 1. Įvertinti ankstyvas ir vėlyvas sunkią galvos traumą patyrusių vaikų ligos baigtis. 2. Nustatyti sunkią galvos traumą patyrusių vaikų vidinio kaukolės slėgio ir smegenų perfuzinio slėgio ryšį su ligos baigtimis. 3. Nustatyti sunkią galvos traumą patyrusių vaikų traumos pobūdžio ryšį su ligos baigtimis. 4. Nustatyti paciento būkės vertinimo skalių ir laboratorinių tyrimų kritines reikšmes ir jų prognozinę vertę. 5. Nustatyti laboratorinių tyrimų kritines reikšmes ir jų prognozinę vertę. Išgyveno 80,5 proc. sunkią galvos smegenų traumą patyrusių vaikų. Išvykstant iš gydymo įstaigos 50 proc. pacientų, o po šešių mėnesių – 24,2 proc. pacientų traumos baigtis buvos bloga. Įtakos traumos baigtims turėjo kraujavimas po kietuoju smegenų dangalu, smegenų edema, kaukolės kaulų lūžiai. Nustatytos laktatų, gliukozės kiekio kraujo serume, vaikų traumų skalės, Glazgo komų skalės ir vaikų mirštamumo indekso 2 kritinės reikšmės, prognozuojančios mirtį, blogą baigtį išvykstant iš gydymo įstaigos ir po šešių mėnesių. Dekompresinė kraniotomija, atlikta, kai VKS = 24,5 mmHg,o SPS = 46.5 mmHg ligos baigčių nepakeitė. / The prospective observational study involved children after severe traumatic brain injury treated in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital. The outcome according to Glasgow Outcome Scale was assessed on discharge and after six months The aim of the study was to determine the prognostic factors in children after severe traumatic brain injury. The objectives of the study: 1. To evaluate early and late outcomes in children after severe traumatic brain injury 2. To evaluate the relation of intracranial pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure with outcome in children after severe traumatic brain injury. 3. To evaluate the relation between type of injury and outcome. 4. To determine the threshold values for trauma scoring scales and to evaluate their prognostic significance. 5. To determine the threshold values for laboratory findings and to evaluate their prognostic significance. The survival rate was 80.5 %.half of patients had bad outcome on discharge and 24.4 % – had bad outcome after six months. The prognostic factors of outcome for children after severe traumatic brain injury were subdural hemorrhage, cerebral edema and skull fracture. Threshold values of Pediatric Trauma Score, Glasgow Coma Score and Pediatric index of Mortality 2 for death and bad outcomes on discharge and after six months were ascertained. Decompressive craniectomy performed at ICP ≥ 24.5 mmHg, CPP ≤ 46.5 mmHg had no impact on outcome in children after severe traumatic... [to full text]