Association of concussion with high school academic standing: sex, school grade and race as stratifiers

Abstract

IntroductionThe purpose was to examine the association between concussion history and academic standing among high school students, and whether the association varies by sex, school grade and race/ethnicity.MethodsData from the 2019 Youth Risk Behaviour Survey were used for our cross-sectional study. Exposure was self-reported history of concussions in the past 12 months. Outcome was self-reported academic standing in the past 12 months. Poisson regression was used to analyse the exposure–outcome association, and whether there were differences by our stratifying variables.ResultsHaving a history of concussion in the past 12 months was significantly associated with a higher risk of poor academic standing during the same period, and the association varied by race/ethnicity.DiscussionYouth with a history of concussion may be at risk for poorer academic standing, indicating to the importance of prevention. Future studies are needed to examine the interaction of race/ethnicity on the presented association.