Study finds that limiting screen time following a concussion may shorten recovery time

By Will Altaweel. This article was initially published in our Concussion Update newsletter; please consider subscribing.

A study conducted by Theodore Macnow et al. found that patients who limited their screen time following a concussion recovered faster than those permitted unlimited screen time. The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, included 125 concussion patients (ages 12-25). The researchers randomly assigned participants to an intervention group, where they were asked to abstain from screen time for 48 hours post-concussion, or a control group, where they were permitted screen time following their concussion.

The “screen time abstinent group” did not totally abstain from screen time. They limited their daily screen time to a median of 130 minutes over 48 hours or approximately 65 minutes per day. The “screen time permitted group” reported a median of 630 minutes over 48 hours, or approximately 315 minutes ( 5 1/2 hours) per day.

Patients who limited their screen time had a median recovery time of 3.5 days, while patients who were permitted screen time had a median recovery time of 8 days. This difference was statistically significant. It is important to note that the researchers defined "recovery" as a Post-Concussive Symptom Scale (PCSS) score of three points or lower.

In a press release from UMass Med, lead author Dr. Theodore Macnow, MD, commented on the importance of this finding, saying that “Given this data, preliminary clinical recommendations should be to limit screen time.”