# Subconcussive Head Injuries Negatively Affect Academic Achievement in Adolescent Males

## TL;DR

Subconcussive head injuries in adolescent males lead to a significant drop in academic performance, suggesting a need for return-to-learn protocols.

## Contribution

This study is the first to show that subconcussive injuries, not just concussions, significantly impact academic achievement.

## Key findings

- Subconcussive head injuries caused a meaningful and significant GPA reduction during the term of injury.
- Academic performance diminished for about 26.93 ± 15.22 days following injury.
- Control group showed no significant GPA changes, highlighting the specific impact of subconcussive injuries.

## Abstract

What are the main findings?
The occurrence of a subconcussive head injury resulted in a meaningful and significant reduction in GPA during the term in which the head injury occurred.We found students to have diminished academic performance with 26.93 ± 15.22 days of recovery following a subconcussive head injury.

The occurrence of a subconcussive head injury resulted in a meaningful and significant reduction in GPA during the term in which the head injury occurred.

We found students to have diminished academic performance with 26.93 ± 15.22 days of recovery following a subconcussive head injury.

What are the implications of the main finding?
Our findings provide initial evidence suggesting the need for subconcussive head injuries to be included in future return to learn protocols.Our findings provide support for subconcussive head injuries to be officially recognised as an injury resulting in acute cognitive impairment.

Our findings provide initial evidence suggesting the need for subconcussive head injuries to be included in future return to learn protocols.

Our findings provide support for subconcussive head injuries to be officially recognised as an injury resulting in acute cognitive impairment.

Background/Objectives: To determine the effects of a subconcussive head injury on adolescent student academic achievement assessed by grade point average (GPA). Methods: The study utilised an experimental (subconcussive head injury, n = 45) and a matched pair control group (n = 45). Data were collated at baseline (i.e., the term prior to sustaining a subconcussive head injury) and the term the subconcussive head injury occurred. Subconcussive head injuries were preliminarily assessed onsite by a registered nurse and diagnosed by a general practitioner using established protocol. The average subconcussive head injury occurred 26.93 ± 15.22 days prior to the exam period, which is when all graded assessments/examinations occurred. All participants (N = 90) were adolescent males (age: 14.04 ± 1.48 years) in grades 7–12 (grade: 8.62 ± 1.51). An independent t-test was used to test for potential between group differences at baseline. Separate dependent t-tests were used to test for the effects of a subconcussive head injury on GPA in the experimental group and the effects of time on GPA in the control group. Standardised Cohen’s d with 95% confidence intervals were used to quantify the meaningfulness of the potential between or within group differences. Results: Non-meaningful, non-significant differences were revealed for all variables between the experimental and control group at baseline. A subconcussive head injury resulted in a meaningful and significant decrease in GPA (d = −0.417, 95% CI = −0.720 to −0.110, small, p = 0.008); while a non-meaningful, non-significant increase in GPA occurred in the matched pair control group (d = 0.037, 95% CI = −0.256 to 0.329, trivial, p = 0.808). Conclusions: Our findings provide initial evidence suggesting the need for return to learn protocols to consider subconcussive head injuries.