Socioeconomic Status, ED Visits and Hospitalizations for Pediatric Concussion

In Ontario, the number of Emergency Department visits for concussion is rising, but little is known about the association between concussion and socio-economic status. The objective of this study was to examine the association between SES and ED visits for concussions in Ontario, Canada. This longitudinal population-based study using routinely-collected administrative data from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences included data from all ED visits and hospitalizations. The rate per 100000 children was calculated from 2008 to 2015. There were 5,889 concussions reported at an ED in 2008, and 14,906 in 2015. The rates of concussions among all socioeconomic quintiles were either stable or increasing. The results of this study suggest that rates of reporting concussions are increasing. However, children in higher income quintiles consistently visited EDs for concussion more than the lower income quintiles. These results suggest that policies related to concussion awareness and identification need to be considered.