INS NYC 2024 Program

Symposium	Symposia 5 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 11:45 am - 01:15 pm Room: West Side Ballroom - Salon 4 Symposia 5: Concussion in children and youth: an update on evidence for diagnosis, assessment and treatment Simposium #2 Development, Stakeholder Engagement and Update of the ‘HeadCheck’ Concussion Recognition and Recovery App Georgia Parkin, UCSD, San Diego, United States Category: Concussion/Mild TBI (Child) Keyword 1: cognitive rehabilitation Keyword 2: cognitive screening Keyword 3: technology Objective: Despite the availability of numerous clinical guidelines for concussion recognition and recovery, there remains a high level of variation in care at and following hospital discharge, which may lead to suboptimal recovery. The advance of Digital Health technology presents a new way to disseminate evidence-based, patient-tailored, and real-time information to the community. A 2016 review identified nine phone applications (apps) which focused on concussion treatment or management; however, none were evidence-based. To address this gap in community concussion support, the Take CARe concussion research program, in collaboration with a health technology company, Curve Tomorrow, and the Australian Football League, has developed HeadCheck, a free, evidence-based, community-facing concussion smartphone app that provides sideline management, real-time PCS monitoring, and individualised return to activity recommendations. The HeadCheck app was subsequently launched in Australia in 2018. This paper will expand on the development, user engagement and feedback, and evidence-based update of the HeadCheck app. Participants and Methods: Study 1: Study 1 will cover the development of the HeadCheck app Study 2: End users for the HeadCheck app (trainers, first aiders, team managers, coaches, club presidents) (n=18) were recruited to provide feedback on usefulness and design. Feedback was additionally sought from frontline clinicians. Study 3: Parents of children aged 5 to 18 years who sustained a concussion within 72 hours of ED presentation were recruited to provide feedback on either standard hospital guidelines, or the HeadCheck app, for acute symptom recovery. Using a quasi-experimental design, consecutive participants were first recruited into a usual care control group (n=7), and subsequently a ‘HeadCheck’ focus group (n=5). Study 4: Content within the HeadCheck app was aligned with the 5^th Concussion in Sport Group (CISG) Consensus Statement; this presentation will close with an overview of updates made to HeadCheck following the 6^th CISG Consensus Statement. Results: HeadCheck was rated highly and found to be feasible, relevant, and useable. Suggestions to improve the app were identified, such as the inclusion of additional, more directed, questioning following symptom endorsement to reduce unnecessary concern. Conclusions: Overall, HeadCheck was favourably reviewed by end users and has since been adopted into the Royal Children’s Hospital ‘Head Injury - General Advice’ guidelines. Updates to the HeadCheck app, which incorporate clinical recommendations from the 6^th CISG Consensus Statement, are currently underway. Further exploration of HeadCheck app useability in a larger sample will provide evidence-based support for its expansion and use outside of Australia.

Symposium

Symposia 5 Program Schedule

02/15/2024
11:45 am - 01:15 pm
Room: West Side Ballroom - Salon 4

Symposia 5: Concussion in children and youth: an update on evidence for diagnosis, assessment and treatment

Simposium #2

Development, Stakeholder Engagement and Update of the ‘HeadCheck’ Concussion Recognition and Recovery App

Georgia Parkin, UCSD, San Diego, United States

Category: Concussion/Mild TBI (Child)

Keyword 1: cognitive rehabilitation
Keyword 2: cognitive screening
Keyword 3: technology

Objective:

Despite the availability of numerous clinical guidelines for concussion recognition and recovery, there remains a high level of variation in care at and following hospital discharge, which may lead to suboptimal recovery. The advance of Digital Health technology presents a new way to disseminate evidence-based, patient-tailored, and real-time information to the community. A 2016 review identified nine phone applications (apps) which focused on concussion treatment or management; however, none were evidence-based. To address this gap in community concussion support, the Take CARe concussion research program, in collaboration with a health technology company, Curve Tomorrow, and the Australian Football League, has developed HeadCheck, a free, evidence-based, community-facing concussion smartphone app that provides sideline management, real-time PCS monitoring, and individualised return to activity recommendations. The HeadCheck app was subsequently launched in Australia in 2018. This paper will expand on the development, user engagement and feedback, and evidence-based update of the HeadCheck app.

Participants and Methods:

Study 1: Study 1 will cover the development of the HeadCheck app

Study 2: End users for the HeadCheck app (trainers, first aiders, team managers, coaches, club presidents) (n=18) were recruited to provide feedback on usefulness and design. Feedback was additionally sought from frontline clinicians.

Study 3: Parents of children aged 5 to 18 years who sustained a concussion within 72 hours of ED presentation were recruited to provide feedback on either standard hospital guidelines, or the HeadCheck app, for acute symptom recovery. Using a quasi-experimental design, consecutive participants were first recruited into a usual care control group (n=7), and subsequently a ‘HeadCheck’ focus group (n=5).

Study 4: Content within the HeadCheck app was aligned with the 5^th Concussion in Sport Group (CISG) Consensus Statement; this presentation will close with an overview of updates made to HeadCheck following the 6^th CISG Consensus Statement.

Results:

HeadCheck was rated highly and found to be feasible, relevant, and useable. Suggestions to improve the app were identified, such as the inclusion of additional, more directed, questioning following symptom endorsement to reduce unnecessary concern.

Conclusions:

Overall, HeadCheck was favourably reviewed by end users and has since been adopted into the Royal Children’s Hospital ‘Head Injury - General Advice’ guidelines. Updates to the HeadCheck app, which incorporate clinical recommendations from the 6^th CISG Consensus Statement, are currently underway. Further exploration of HeadCheck app useability in a larger sample will provide evidence-based support for its expansion and use outside of Australia.