More Than One in Four Young Children Have Persisting Symptoms After Concussion

MONDAY, Feb. 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) — More than one-quarter of young children experience persisting symptoms after concussion (PSaC), according to a study published online Jan. 26 in Pediatrics.

Sean C. Rose, M.D., from The Ohio State University in Columbus, and colleagues assessed the frequency of PSaC after early childhood concussion and identified potential predictors of PSaC. The analysis included 235 young children (ages 6 months to <6 years) with concussion, 108 with orthopedic injury, and 75 community controls.

The researchers found that at one month postinjury, PSaC were documented in 28 percent of children with concussion, higher than in the orthopedic injury group (10 percent) and the community control group (2 percent). PSaC were documented in just under one-quarter of children at three months postconcussion (24 percent) and 16 percent at 12 months. PSaC at one month postconcussion was predicted by total symptom burden in the emergency department (odds ratio, 1.108). There were no associations for age, loss of consciousness, receiving brain imaging in the emergency department, attending daycare or school, or parent education with PSaC.

“The burden of PSaC in this age group is notable and warrants early interventions to reduce the risk of developing PSaC,” the authors write. “Acute symptom burden could be used to triage high-risk patients to earlier medical follow-up, but further research and additional infrastructure within the medical system is needed to address symptom management in young children who sustain a concussion.”

Abstract/Full Text