Amidst rising public interest in concussions due to serious hockey injuries or skiing deaths, a researcher from McMaster University claims that we may not be taking the common head injury seriously enough.

In a study to be published in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics, Carol DeMatteo, an associate clinical professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science, found that children who receive the diagnosis of concussion stay fewer days in hospital and return to school earlier than their counterparts with head injuries not diagnosed as concussion.

DeMatteo's paper was based on the analysis of the records of 434 children who were admitted with acquired brain injury to McMaster Children's Hospital over a period of two years.

Out of 341 alleged to be traumatic brain injury patients, 32% received the diagnosis of concussion.

Lead author Carol DeMatteo, an occupational therapist and associate professor in McMaster's school of rehabilitation science in an interview reveals, "The overall issue is concussion is often a lay term now. It's almost expected in sport. So we learned that perhaps people aren't taking it quite as seriously as perhaps it needs to be taken".

The jargon "mild traumatic brain injury" abbreviated as MTBI would be easier for the parents and even the medical staff to comprehend what they are actually dealing with.