Catastrophizing Thoughts and Fear-Avoidance Behavior Are Related to Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

A small percentage of patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) does not follow the expected recovery trajectory but develop persistent post-concussion symptoms (PCS). The fear-avoidance model (FAM) is a general biopsychosocial model that may potentially explain the development and continuation of persistent PCS for a subgroup of patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate if the FAM can (at least partially) explain PCS at 3 and 6 months post-mTBI by investigating associations between the elements of the FAM. A prospective, longitudinal, multicenter cohort study with outcome assessments at 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months post-mTBI was conducted in 163 patients with mTBI recruited from the emergency department and neurology department within 2 weeks post-mTBI. The FAM components PCS, catastrophizing, fear-avoidance behavior and depressive symptoms correlated significantly with each other at 3 months post-mTBI (p < 0.01) and correlations ranged from 0.40 to 0.72. No significant correlations were found between disuse and the other components. Depressive symptoms at 3 months post-mTBI significantly correlated with PCS at 6 months post-mTBI. Our results suggest that the FAM could be an explanatory model for the development of persistent PCS. This implies that treatment development for patients with persistent PCS could be aimed at the components of the FAM, such as exposure therapy to reduce catastrophizing and avoidance behavior.