Therapeutic Effect of Aerobic Exercise for Adolescents After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Sport-Related Concussion: A Meta-Analysis from Randomized Controlled Trials

BACKGROUND: We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials from January 1980 toApril 2018 for adolescents with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) to explore the value of aerobic exercise in sport-related concussion (SRC) and mTBI treatment. METHODS: A meta-analysis for the postconcussion symptom scale (PCSS) score and time to recovery was performed with STATA software. RESULTS: We found that aerobic exercise versus usual treatment significantly decreased the PCSS score (weighted mean difference = 6.51, 95% confidence interval: 0.29, 12.72; P = 0.040), as well as the time to recovery (weighted mean difference = -3.87; 95% confidence interval: -6.50, -1.23; P = 0.004). However, aerobic exercise showed no significant improvement in immediate postconcussion assessment and cognitive testing (P = 0.471/0.129/0.648/0.800, respectively, in verbal memory, visual memory, visual motor speed, and reaction time). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with usual treatment, aerobic exercise promoted mTBI adolescents' recovery, assessed by PCSS and time to recovery. However, aerobic exercise may not help with neurocognitive function recovery.

Automated summary

Aerobic exercise has a positive impact on the recovery of adolescents with mild traumatic brain injury, reducing symptom scores and recovery time, but does not significantly help with neurocognitive function recovery.