MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (MTBI) CHRONICALLY IMPAIRS COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN MORE FIRST-TIME CONCUSSED INDIVIDUALS THAN PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED: A SCOPING REVIEW

Abstract

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has long been characterized as a “mild” injury without long-term consequences. Despite our growing understanding of its long-term consequences, the current estimate of individuals with mTBI that will develop persisting symptoms (i.e., 15%) may be an underestimation. We therefore designed a scoping review to reveal what the literature as a whole reports about long-term cognitive impairment following a single mTBI. We systematically reviewed the literature that behaviourally assesses cognition in individuals with chronic phase (i.e., ≥ 3 months) mTBI. We show that approximately half of individuals with a single mTBI continue to demonstrate chronic cognitive impairments. We also show that the mTBI literature is plagued with a lack of homogeneity with respect to the use of cognitive outcome measures. Our findings highlight the need to establish a thorough understanding of the long-term implications of a single mTBI.