Comparing In-Person and Telephone-Based Exercise Programs for Adults with Postconcussion Symptoms and Headache After Mild Head Injury

What this Trial Is About

This research investigates two different ways of delivering guided exercise programs to adults experiencing exercise intolerance after a mild head injury. The study aims to determine whether a program that combines in-person exercise sessions and follow-up visits, including repeated treadmill testing, is more effective than a program with only telephone-based follow-up. It focuses on patients who report symptom worsening during physical activity following a mild traumatic brain injury. Participants will be tested using a treadmill to find the heart rate at which their symptoms worsen. They will then exercise for 15 to 20 minutes, 3 to 5 times a week, at 80 to 90% of that heart rate. One group will attend weekly in-person exercise sessions during the first three weeks and have treadmill tests every three weeks at the hospital. The other group will exercise at home and receive weekly phone or video call follow-ups for the first three weeks, then less frequently until 12 weeks. Throughout the study, participants will complete questionnaires before and after the exercise program and again six months after starting. Researchers will assess exercise tolerance after three months and monitor symptoms like headache, quality of life, mood, fatigue, and training adherence over six months. The study includes regular heart rate and exertion monitoring during exercise and uses blinded assessment for outcome measurements.

Exercise in Postconcussion Symptoms and Posttraumatic Headache