ANXIETY, FEAR, AND MOVEMENT FOLLOWING SPORTS-RELATED CONCUSSION: HOW DOES KINESIOPHOBIA CORRELATE TO SYMPTOMS AND REACTION TIME?

BACKGROUND: Fear of pain with movement, also known as kinesiophobia, has been widely studied in various musculoskeletal injuries, yet little is known about its relationship to concussion. Given that concussion can negatively affect neuromuscular control and anxiety, re-integration into sports following a concussion may be associated with kinesiophobia. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: Our primary purpose was to examine kinesiophobia, among youth athletes with concussion compared to uninjured controls. Secondarily, we sought to examine correlations between kinesiophobia with concussion symptom severity and reaction time. We hypothesized adolescents with concussion would demonstrate greater kinesiophobia compared to controls. Additionally, we hypothesized that greater kinesiophobia would be correlated with higher symptom severity and slower reaction times. METHODS: We conducted a repeated measures study of 48 youth athletes. Participants were evaluated at two time points. The concussion group was assessed within 14 days of injury and once cleared for return to play (RTP) by physician. The control group was tested initially and again approximately 28 days later. Participants completed Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), Post-Concussion Symptom Inventory (PCSI), and clinical reaction time (CRT) assessments. We compared mean group differences and assessed the correlation of TSK with PCSI and CRT, at each assessment. RESULTS: We included 26 participants with a concussion and 16 controls (Table 1). The concussion group reported significantly greater TSK scores at the initial assessment (38.0±5.6 vs. 29.3±6.9; p<0.001; Figure 1) and a significantly greater proportion of “high” TSK scores (>36) compared to controls (69% vs. 19%; p = 0.004; Table 1). At the follow-up assessment, there were no significant between group differences in TSK scores (32.8±7.0 vs. 30.4±7.5; p=0.35; Figure 1), or the proportion of “high” TSK scores (38% vs. 25%; p=0.51; Figure 1). TSK scores were significantly and moderately correlated with PCSI for the concussion group at both assessments (r=0.53; p=0.006 at visit 1, r=0.47; p=0.01 at visit 2; Figure 2), but not for controls (Figure 2). Furthermore, TSK scores were significantly and moderately correlated with CRT for the concussion group (r=0.50; p=0.01; Figure 2), but not controls (r= -0.26; p=0.37; Figure 2) at the follow-up assessment. CONCLUSION: Adolescents recovering from concussion commonly reported high kinesiophobia at initial concussion assessment, while many no longer reported high kinesiophobia when given RTP clearance. Furthermore, kinesiophobia was significantly correlated with self-reported concussion symptoms and clinical reaction time scores. The correlation between kinesiophobia and reaction time suggests a perception-behavior relationship with post-concussion movement deficits may exist. TABLES/FIGURES: