How Does Prolonged Vision Difficulty Affect Children’s Function Post-Concussion?

A recent study examined the effects of vestibular-ocular and vision-specific dysfunction in children who experienced a concussion, and found that prolonged post-concussive vision difficulty was associated with poor academic performance.

Researchers used the Children’s of Alabama Concussion Clinic REDCap dataset from January 2007 to October 2013 to evaluate the association of concussion symptoms, SCAT2 scores, demographics, concussion severity markers, and reported educational difficulties in 276 children between 5 and 18 years of age. The children selected had 3 or more concussion-related symptoms that persisted for 10 days or more, with the median time of concussion reported at 21 days prior to the beginning of the study, and 95 (33%) reported their concussion 30 days or more before the data collection began. The relationship between vision abnormalities reported by participants, and reported education difficulty was determined using univariate and multivariate logistic regression techniques.
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The results showed that 29% of participants reported academic difficulty, and 46% reported vision abnormalities. Vision symptoms, hearing disturbances, and difficulty concentrating were associated with academic difficulty. In participants who reported their concussion 30 days or more after the event, vision and concentration difficulty remained statistically significant.

According to the researchers, vision problem post-concussion were associated with academic difficulty. “Comprehensive vision assessment should be considered in children reporting academic difficulty and in the development of return-to-learn protocols,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Swanson MW, Weise KK, Dreer LE, et al. Academic difficulty and vision symptoms in children with concussion [published online January 2017]. Optometry and Vision Science. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0000000000000977.