A Comparative Analysis of Depressive Symptoms Following Sports-Related Concussion in Youth Athletes Versus Their Age-Matched Non-concussed Counterparts

Background and objective Athletics is the leading cause of pediatric concussion, and depression is a major comorbidity associated with concussion in the pediatric population. Prior studies have described the risk of depression after concussion in high school-, collegiate-, and elite-level athletes, but there is scarce data on younger athletes. Interpretation of existing research on the association of depression with concussions in youth athletes is complicated by diverse study designs, varying measures of depression, differing timelines for symptom development, and a lack of control groups. Furthermore, limited research exists on sex-related differences in the development of depressive symptoms following sports-related concussions (SRC) in younger athletes. This study used the Seattle Pediatric Concussion Research Collaborative (SPCRC) Data Repository to compare depressive symptoms between youth athletes at one month post-SRC and non-concussed age-matched controls by using a standardized measure of depressive symptoms: the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The secondary goal was to compare PHQ-9 scores between males and females for both concussed and non-concussed groups. Methods This study entailed a secondary analysis of data collected as part of the SPCRC Data Repository. We conducted a retrospective subgroup analysis of PHQ-9 scores at one month post-concussion for concussed youth athletes. We compared the PHQ9 scores of concussed youth athletes with PHQ-9 scores collected at the time of enrollment for non-concussed youth athletes. Results After random age-matching, a cohort of 266 patients (133 in the concussed group and 133 in the non-concussed control group) was included in the final analysis. The mean age was 13.8 years (range: 5-18 years). For the concussed group, a history of SRC was associated with a higher mean total PHQ-9 score at one month post-concussion compared with the control group at the time of enrollment (6.14 ±5.46 versus 1.53 ±1.81, respectively, p<0.0001). All nine subdomains of the PHQ-9 showed significantly higher scores in the concussion group compared with the control group (p<0.0001). Significantly higher scores were observed when comparing mean total PHQ-9 scores for male athletes in the concussion group with male athletes in the control group (7.03 ±5.72 versus 1.59 ±1.66, p<0.0001) and for female athletes in the concussion group compared with female controls (5.28 ±5.10 versus 1.49 ±1.92, p<0.0001). No significant differences were observed between sexes for total PHQ-9 scores or PHQ-9 subscores. Conclusion At one month post concussion, youth with SRC demonstrated higher levels of depressive symptoms as measured by PHQ-9 compared with age-matched typically developing controls. No significant differences were identified in total PHQ-9 scores and subscores between male and female participants for either the concussion or control group. This study suggests that clinicians need to be vigilant and monitor for symptoms of depression in young athletes for at least one month post-concussion.