Socioeconomic Disparities in Concussion Presentation

Within a province-wide Canadian dataset, what socioeconomic disparities are associated with the location of the first health care presentation for concussion?In this cohort study of 674 629 patients, increasing marginalization markers, specifically neighborhood socioeconomic measures, rurality, and absence of a primary care physician, were associated with increased likelihood of presenting to the emergency department rather than outpatient locations for concussion across multiple age ranges.These findings emphasize the importance of augmenting health care system–wide resources, including primary care access, telemedicine, and streamlined education tools, in addition to enhancing resources for emergency department clinicians to optimize concussion care across all ages.

Corresponding Author: Daniel J. Corwin, MD, MSCE, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Roberts Center for Pediatric Research, 2716 South St, Philadelphia, PA 19146 (corwind@chop.edu).

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