Post-concussion syndrome
About 10% of people with PCS develop sensitivity to light or noise, about 5% experience a decreased sense of taste or smell, and about 14% report blurred vision. People may also have double vision or ringing in the ears, also called tinnitus. PCS may cause insomnia, fatigue, or other problems with sleep.
Rivermead post-concussion symptoms questionnaire
The questionnaire has displayed several flaws in implementation and its ability to accurately reflect test-taker experience. While the questionnaire includes symptoms non-specific to PCS, which allows for a broader range of diagnosis (i.e. of other conditions such as chronic pain), this is at the expense of precision. The questionnaire is a useful tool for assessing progress or regression of symptom severity, but it is not ideal for actual diagnosis as there is no standard criteria for what constitutes post-concussion syndrome. The only feature characteristic of PCS that is generally agreed upon among health professionals is a significant impairment of the ability to function socially. Recreational drug use, for instance, can often result in symptoms similar to those associated with PCS, making it difficult to determine the severity of a head injury if the victim is a habitual drug user. Despite this, studies have used the RPQ as a way of meeting criteria that may not be universally agreed upon, such as those found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (specifically DSM-IV-TR).