No Differences in HADS Scores Between Acutely Concussed and Healthy Collegiate Student-Athletes

Objective To investigate differences in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) scores between acutely concussed collegiate student-athletes and healthy, matched group of collegiate athletes. Background Mood disturbances have been documented acutely following concussion. The presence of anxiety and/or depression may complicate and prolong concussion recovery among some athletes. Therefore, it is important to examine acute post-injury anxiety and depression to facilitate proper management decisions. Design/Methods Twenty-six student-athletes (54% female, 19.92 ± 5.56 years of age) with a diagnosed concussion completed the HADS questionnaire within a week of injury. Twenty-six healthy student-athletes (54% female, 18.82 ± 0.54 years of age) completed the HADS during pre-season baseline testing, individually matched by sex and sport. Independent samples t-tests were used to explore differences in HADS scores between groups. Results There was no significant difference (p = 0.50) between total HADS scores of the concussion group (6.77 ± 6.17) and healthy cohort (5.81 ± 3.85). There were also no significant differences between concussion and uninjured groups on the HADS Anxiety subscale (4.38 ± 4.24 vs. 4.50 ± 2.83; p = 0.91) or HADS Depression subscale (2.38 ± 2.82 vs. 1.31 ± 1.67; p = 0.10). Conclusions HADS scores obtained among collegiate student athletes acutely following concussion did not significantly differ relative to matched healthy control participants. It is possible that one week post-injury was not enough time to observe measurable effects of anxiety or depression, as those are commonly seen in cases of prolonged recovery.