Early symptom-targeted multidisciplinary care for persisting symptoms in youth

This article was initially published in the 8/27/26 edition of our Concussion Update newsletter; please consider subscribing.

In a recent clinical trial, researchers Vicki Anderson et al. found that using a symptom-targeted multidisciplinary treatment for persisting post-concussion symptoms (called “Concussion Essentials”) was associated with faster recovery in youth compared to typical care. Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the clinical trial included 158 patients ages eight to eighteen and took place between 2019 and 2024. The Concussion Essentials treatment resulted in 62.5% of patients making a full recovery within three months of injury compared with 37% of patients who received typical care. According to the researchers, “Findings from this study support the adoption of individualized and targeted multimodal treatment, delivered flexibly by an integrated multidisciplinary team,” for youth with persisting post-concussion symptoms (PPCS).

The researchers recruited concussion patients ages eight to eighteen who were experiencing symptoms at 11-17 days post-injury. This timeline allowed the researchers to assess treatments that were started early in the recovery process, when they are most effective. All participants completed a baseline assessment at three weeks post-injury, and then were randomly assigned to receive either the symptom-targeted multidisciplinary treatment or usual care (weekly monitoring). The Concussion Essentials group received personalized education, psychological care, and physiotherapy. Treatment lasted for up to eight weeks, or until symptoms resolved. Most patients who received the Concussion Essentials treatment recovered before the end of the treatment period (14.9% at four weeks and 41.8% at seven weeks). 

The researchers note that this study used a symptom assessment based on parent-reported data rather than child self-reports. They acknowledge that there is debate about the most accurate way to measure children’s symptoms, and, to address this concern, they are working on another publication using the child self-reported data.