PURPOSE: To systematically characterize and assess the effectiveness of multidisciplinary care for patients with persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Only studies describing multidisciplinary treatment, defined as intervention provided by no less than 2 healthcare disciplines, each with independent scopes of practice, for patients with PPCS were considered. RESULTS: A total of 8 of the 1357 studies identified were included. The studies were comprised of heterogenous patient populations, care delivery systems, healthcare providers, treatment approaches, and outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest multidisciplinary care, using a needs-based approach with individual- or group-based interventions, may be more beneficial than usual care to; (1) immediately reduce concussion-related symptom complaints and improve mood and quality of life in adolescents following sports-related concussion (SRC) and, (2) may produce immediate and lasting improvements in symptom complaints of young, primarily female, adults following a non-SRC. Future studies should clearly describe the decision-making processes used to deliver care through a needs-based approach and prioritize the inclusion of objective, performance-based measures to assess outcomes.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help

• DOI
• PubMed
• PDF locator
• publisher