User:Fanman1999/Post-concussion syndrome

Epidemiology
Currently, there are two different methods of criteria for diagnosing PCS, the first being the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) while the second being the DSM-IV, which stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The problem with this is that both give varying results(even from the same population) and as such, gives us a wide range of reported incidences of TBI experiencing signs/symptoms of PCS. These methods for diagnosing PCS have failed to correlate the severity of injury with the risk of developing PCS. Although this may be true, there have been studies done that suggest that the number of concussions an individual experiences is associated with the development of prolonged symptoms after the recent concussion.

In the first few weeks after a mild traumatic brain injury(TBI) the prevalence of PCS was between 40-80%. As many as 50% report symptoms after 3 months and can even extend to as long as a year(between 10-15% however). Patients that have experienced a traumatic brain injury have a 10.3% of developing PCS after 1 month, with 3 months being 6% and 6 months being 0.9%. These values will vary due to cultural differences regarding symptoms expected. Cross-sectional studies have been done to determine the distribution of symptoms in cases of PCS. A study of 218 patients that were just recently released from the hospital following a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury(MTBI) was conducted from one week to one year. Studies found that of the 218 patients, 79.4% had symptoms relating to PCS with around 5% rehospitalization because of this. Of all of the symptoms of PCS, headaches were the most common symptom experienced in this study with 71.7% while second was irritability being 68.8%. It is worth noting that while these studies may be true in this case, socio-demographic and injury characteristics will play a major part and thus will skew the results for each person.