Return to Physical Activity Timing and Dual-Task Gait Stability Are Associated 2 Months Following Concussion.

The effect of physical activity resumption on functional recovery following concussion is poorly understood. We sought to examine the relationship between physical activity resumption timing and gait stability 2 months following concussion.Motion analysis laboratory.Twenty-nine individuals who sustained a concussion and were subsequently allowed to return to preinjury levels of physical activity within 2 months postinjury.Prospective cohort study.The return-to-activity day (RTA-day) was identified as the first day postinjury that each participant was medically cleared to resume regular physical activity. Whole-body center-of-mass (COM) motion during single-task and dual-task walking was assessed 2 months postinjury. Correlation coefficients were calculated between the RTA-day and single/dual-task gait stability as well as symptom severity measurements 2 months postinjury.Dual-task medial-lateral COM displacement (r = -0.52, P = .004) and peak medial-lateral COM velocity (r = -0.37, P = .048) were significantly correlated with RTA-day. Dual-task peak forward velocity and single-task gait stability measures were not significantly correlated with RTA-day.The time of RTA-day clearance, within a 2 months postinjury period, is significantly correlated with dual-task medial-lateral gait stability measured at the end of that period, suggesting that frontal plane gait stability recovery is sensitive to the timing of RTA-day.