Early reporting of atypical symptoms following a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) may be an early indicator of poor prognosis. This study aimed to determine the percentage of people reporting atypical symptoms 1-month post-mTBI and explore links to recovery 12 months later in a community-dwelling mTBI sample.

Adult participants (>16 years) who had experienced a mTBI were identified from a longitudinal incidence study (BIONIC). At 1-month post-injury, 260 participants completed the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (typical symptoms) plus four atypical symptom items (hemiplegia, difficulty swallowing, digestion problems and difficulties with fine motor tasks). At 12 months post-injury, 73.9% (n = 193) rated their overall recovery on a 100-point scale. An ordinal regression explored the association between atypical symptoms at 1 month and recovery at 12 months post-injury (low = 0–80, moderate = 81–99 and complete recovery = 100), whilst controlling for age, sex, rehabilitation received, ethnicity, mental and physical comorbidities and additional injuries sustained at the time of injury.

At 1-month post-injury <1% of participants reported hemiplegia, 5.4% difficulty swallowing, 10% digestion problems and 15.4% difficulties with fine motor tasks. The ordinal regression model revealed atypical symptoms were not significant predictors of self-rated recovery at 12 months. Older age at injury and higher typical symptoms at 1 month were independently associated with poorer recovery at 12 months, p < 0.01.

Atypical symptoms on initial presentation were not linked to global self-reported recovery at 12 months. Age at injury and typical symptoms are stronger early indicators of longer-term prognosis. Further research is needed to determine if atypical symptoms predict other outcomes following mTBI.

轻度创伤性脑损伤 (mTBI) 后非典型症状的早期报告可能是预后不良的早期指标。这项研究旨在确定在 mTBI 后 1 个月报告非典型症状的人的百分比，并在社区居住的 mTBI 样本中探索与 12 个月后恢复的联系。

经历过 mTBI 的成人参与者（>16 岁）是从一项纵向发病率研究 (BIONIC) 中确定的。受伤后 1 个月，260 名参与者完成了 Rivermead 脑震荡后症状问卷（典型症状）和四个非典型症状项目（偏瘫、吞咽困难、消化问题和精细运动任务困难）。在受伤后 12 个月，73.9% ( n = 193) 以 100 分制对他们的整体恢复情况进行评分。序数回归探讨了 1 个月的非典型症状与受伤后 12 个月的恢复之间的关联（低 = 0-80，中等 = 81-99 和完全恢复 = 100），同时控制了年龄、性别、接受的康复、种族、精神和身体合并症以及受伤时遭受的额外伤害。

受伤后 1 个月，<1% 的参与者报告偏瘫、5.4% 的吞咽困难、10% 的消化问题和 15.4% 的精细运动任务困难。序数回归模型显示，非典型症状并不是 12 个月时自评恢复的重要预测因素。受伤时年龄较大和 1 个月时典型症状较多与 12 个月时恢复较差独立相关，p < 0.01。

初始表现的非典型症状与 12 个月时的整体自我报告恢复无关。受伤年龄和典型症状是长期预后的更强的早期指标。需要进一步研究以确定非典型症状是否可以预测 mTBI 后的其他结果。