History of concussion linked to higher risk of severe mental illness after childbirth

Early screening and trauma-informed care could help protect new parents’ mental health, researchers say

2024-11-04

(Press-News.org) Toronto, ON, November 4, 2024 – People with a history of concussion face a 25% higher risk of having severe mental health issues after childbirth, according to a new study from ICES and the University of Toronto.

The research underscores the importance of identifying individuals with past concussions early in their prenatal care and highlights the need for long-term, trauma-informed support to safeguard their mental health.

“We found that individuals with a history of concussion were significantly more likely to experience serious mental health challenges, such as psychiatric emergency department visits or self-harm, in the years following childbirth,” says lead author Samantha Krueger, a registered midwife and PhD candidate in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University. The study was completed as part of Krueger’s MSc at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation.

“This association was especially strong for people with no prior mental health history, meaning that concussion may be an important but overlooked risk factor during pregnancy and postpartum care,” adds Krueger.

The study followed more than 750,000 birthing people across Ontario between 2007 and 2017, tracking mental health outcomes for up to 14 years after delivery. Researchers found that among those with a history of concussion, 11% experienced severe maternal mental illness, compared to 7% for those without prior concussions. Even after adjusting for various factors like age, income, and history of interpersonal violence, concussion was associated with a 25% higher risk of severe mental illness.

The study’s findings were particularly striking among participants without a pre-existing mental health diagnosis. For these individuals, a prior concussion increased the risk of developing severe maternal mental illness by 33%, compared to those with no concussion history.

Senior author Dr. Hilary Brown notes that the physical and emotional demands of parenting may exacerbate concussion-related challenges. “Sleep is critical to recovery after a head injury, but sleep deprivation is a reality for many new parents,” says Brown, who is an Adjunct Scientist at ICES and Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Society at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

“Cognitive impairments, sensitivities to light and noise, and the stress of caring for a newborn can all intensify concussion symptoms, which in turn may raise the risk of mental health issues over time,” says Brown.

Given the biological links between brain injury and mental illness, the researchers advocate for routine antenatal screening for concussion history, provision of mental health resources, and the use of trauma-informed care during the postpartum period. “Our study points to a critical need for healthcare providers to take concussion history into account when supporting new parents,” adds Krueger. “Early identification and long-term support could make a real difference in preventing serious psychiatric outcomes.”

The study contributes to growing evidence that reproductive care should incorporate neurological and mental health factors to address the full spectrum of risks faced by birthing people. The researchers hope their findings will encourage healthcare providers and policymakers to prioritize concussion prevention in people of reproductive age and ensure adequate mental health resources for new parents with concussion histories.

For more information:

Contact: Misty Pratt

Email: media@ices.on.ca

Phone: 343-961-6982

About the Study

The study, “History of Concussion and Risk of Severe Maternal Mental Illness: A Population-Based Cohort Study,” was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

ICES is an independent, not-for-profit research and analytics institute that uses population-based health information to produce knowledge on a broad range of healthcare issues, leading cutting-edge studies and analyses evaluating healthcare policy, delivery, and population outcomes. ICES knowledge is highly regarded in Canada and abroad and is widely used by government, hospitals, planners, and practitioners to make decisions about healthcare delivery and to develop policy. For the latest ICES news, follow us on X, formerly Twitter: @ICESOntario 

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Combining two simple tools could combat election misinformation

2024-11-04

ITHACA, N.Y. – A popular new strategy for combatting misinformation doesn’t by itself help people distinguish truth from falsehood but improves when paired with reminders to focus on accuracy, finds new Cornell University-led research supported by Google. Psychological inoculation, a form of “prebunking” intended to help people identify and refute false or misleading information, uses short videos in place of ads to highlight manipulative techniques common to misinformation, such as emotional language, false dichotomies and scapegoating. The strategy has already been deployed ...

Nanoscale transistors could enable more efficient electronics

2024-11-04

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Silicon transistors, which are used to amplify and switch signals, are a critical component in most electronic devices, from smartphones to automobiles. But silicon semiconductor technology is held back by a fundamental physical limit that prevents transistors from operating below a certain voltage. This limit, known as “Boltzmann tyranny,” hinders the energy efficiency of computers and other electronics, especially with the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies that demand faster computation. In an effort to overcome this fundamental limit of silicon, MIT researchers fabricated a different type ...

UChicago scientist develops paradigm to predict behavior of atmospheric rivers

2024-11-04

When torrential rains and powerful winds hit densely populated coastal regions, whole cities can be destroyed—but governments and residents can take precautions with sufficient warning. Many of these coastal deluges are caused by atmospheric rivers—regions of concentrated water vapor carried along on strong winds, sometimes called “rivers in the sky.” Meteorologists monitor them, but the ability to predict exactly how an atmospheric river might behave based on its underlying physics would offer more precise forecasts. In a paper published today in Nature Communications, senior author Da Yang, assistant professor of geophysical sciences at the University ...

Childhood overweight is associated with socio-economic vulnerability

2024-11-04

More children have overweight in regions with high rates of single parenthood, low education levels, low income and high child poverty. The pandemic may also have reinforced this trend. This is shown by a study conducted by researchers at Uppsala University and Region Sörmland in collaboration with Region Skåne. “During and after the pandemic, we see a greater difference between regions in terms of children's weight. It even looks like it has exacerbated health inequalities,” explains ...

Study reveals links between many pesticides and prostate cancer

2024-11-04

Researchers have identified 22 pesticides consistently associated with the incidence of prostate cancer in the United States, with four of the pesticides also linked with prostate cancer mortality. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. To assess county-level associations of 295 pesticides with prostate cancer across counties in the United States, investigators conducted an environment-wide association study, using a lag period between exposure and prostate cancer incidence of 10–18 years to account for the slow-growing nature of most prostate cancers. The years 1997–2001 ...

LiU researchers make AlphaFold predict very large proteins

2024-11-04

The AI tool AlphaFold has been improved so that it can now predict the shape of very large and complex protein structures. Linköping University researchers have also succeeded in integrating experimental data into the tool. The results, published in Nature Communications, are a step toward more efficient development of new proteins for, among other things, medical drugs. In all living organisms, there is a huge variety of proteins that regulate cell functions. Basically, everything that happens in the body, from controlling muscles and forming hair to transporting ...

Fossil of huge terror bird offers new information about wildlife in South America 12 million years ago

2024-11-04

**EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE MONDAY, NOV. 4, AT 1 A.M. ET** Researchers including a Johns Hopkins University evolutionary biologist report they have analyzed a fossil of an extinct giant meat-eating bird — which they say could be the largest known member of its kind — providing new information about animal life in northern South America millions of years ago. The evidence lies in the leg bone of the terror bird described in new paper published Nov. 4 in Palaeontology. The study was led by Federico J. Degrange, a terror bird ...

Scientists create a world-first 3D cell model to help develop treatments for devastating lip injuries

2024-11-04

We use our lips to talk, eat, drink, and breathe; they signal our emotions, health, and aesthetic beauty. It takes a complex structure to perform so many roles, so lip problems can be hard to repair effectively. Basic research is essential to improving these treatments, but until now, models using lip cells — which perform differently to other skin cells — have not been available. In a new study published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, scientists report the successful immortalization of donated lip cells, ...

One-third of patients with cancer visit EDs in months before diagnosis

2024-11-04

About 1 in 3 patients diagnosed with cancer in Ontario visited an emergency department (ED) in the 90 days before diagnosis, found a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.240952. In a study that included more than 650 000 patients diagnosed with cancer between 2014 and 2021 in Ontario, 35% (229 683) had visited an ED in the 90 days before diagnosis. Among patients with ED visits before their cancer diagnosis, 64% had visited once, 23% had visited twice and 13% had 3 or more visits. ...

Adolescent exam anxiety can be intensified by pressure to achieve, says academic

2024-11-04

Former teacher Professor of Education David Putwain says ‘heavy-handed’ messages around test results can fuel extreme worry among some 16 to 18-year-olds, even when others respond well to such messages. Putwain identifies several risk factors, for example students with certain personality traits, including those who are highly self-critical, can underachieve because of severe anxiety in exams. Certain demographics also report higher exam anxiety, including female persons and those from economically deprived backgrounds. ‘Temperature checks’ to identify at-risk ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

The Lancet: Deeply entrenched racial and geographic health disparities in the USA have increased over the last two decades—as life expectancy gap widens to 20 years

2 MILLION mph galaxy smash-up seen in unprecedented detail

Scientists find a region of the mouse gut tightly regulated by the immune system

How school eligibility influences the spread of infectious diseases: Insights for future outbreaks

UM School of Medicine researchers link snoring to behavioral problems in adolescents without declines in cognition

The Parasaurolophus’ pipes: Modeling the dinosaur’s crest to study its sound #ASA187

St. Jude appoints leading scientist to create groundbreaking Center of Excellence for Structural Cell Biology

Hear this! Transforming health care with speech-to-text technology #ASA187

Exploring the impact of offshore wind on whale deaths #ASA187

Mass General Brigham and BIDMC researchers unveil an AI protein engineer capable of making proteins ‘better, faster, stronger’

Metabolic and bariatric surgery safe and effective for patients with severe obesity

Smarter city planning: MSU researchers use brain activity to predict visits to urban areas

Using the world’s fastest exascale computer, ACM Gordon Bell Prize-winning team presents record-breaking algorithm to advance understanding of chemistry and biology