The Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptom Questionnaire (RPQ) is a self-report scale to measure the severity of post-concussive symptoms following a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
16
5-10 minutes
Adult
18 - 64
yearsElderly Adult
65 +
yearsInitially reviewed by Jamie Basch, MOTR/L, CBIS and Pam Cornwell, PT, MHS, NCS in 2018.
Recommendations for not administering RPQ or BDI-II in isolation for diagnostic purposes due to significant difference (higher scores) found between depressed and nondepressed TBI patients on self-reported mood, cognitive, somatic, and visual postconcussion symptoms (Hermann et al., 2009) and high correlation found between RPQ and BDI-II in non-clinical sample by Sullivan et al. (2011).
Recently emerging disagreement regarding factor structure and validity of this measure:
A variation of the RPQ, the Rivermead Head Injury Follow Up Questionnaire (RHFUQ), exists and is comprised of 10 brief questions for use with minor brain injury (Crawford et al., 1996).
Predictive validity with use of HADS and PTA appears to decrease after 3 months (King et al., 1999).
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: (Lundin, De Boussard, Edman, & Borg, 2006; n = 122; mean age = 37.3, range 15-65 at 3 months post mTBI; 58% men and 42% women; Swedish version of RPQ.)
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: (Medvedev, Theadom, Barker-Collo, Feigin, & BIONIC Research Group, 2018; n = 146; mean age 39.7 (18.0), 58.9% men and 41.1% women)
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury with Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS): (Ingebrigtsen et al., 1998)
Head Injury: (King, Crawford, Wenden, Moss, & Wade, 1995, n = 41 for test-retest reliability portion of study; mean age 31 (14.3), range 16 – 64; time post head injury for first administration 7 days and second administration at 8 days; 54% men and 46% women)
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: (Medvedev et al., 2018)
Mild or Moderate Head Injury: (King et al., 1995, n = 46 for interrater reliability portion of study; mean age = 34 (13.2), range 17 – 64; time post Head Injury mean 6 months and 6 days (10.6 days) for first administration and mean of 9 days (5.3, range 3-34) later for second administration; 67% men and 33% women)
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: (Medvedev et al., 2018)
Concurrent validity:
Mild to moderate head injury: (King, Crawford, Wenden, Caldwell, & Wade, 1999; n = 66; mean age = 33 (13.0) years, range 17 – 65; time post head injury = 7 – 10 days; 65% men and 35% women)
Closed Head Injury: (King, 1996, n = 50, mean age = 33 (12.7) range 17-65; time post head injury = 7 – 10 days; time post CHI = 7 – 10 days; 46% men and 54% women)
Mild to Moderate Head Injury: (King et al., 1999)
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: (de Guise et al., 2016)
Convergent Validity:
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: (de Guise et al., 2016)
Minor to severe head injury: (Crawford, Wenden, & Wade, 1996, n = 43; mean age 32 (15), range 17 – 64; 2 = very severe head injury, 2 = severe head injury, 20 = moderate, and 19 = mild head injury; 30 men and 13 women)
Head Injury: (Eyres et al., 2005)
Non-clinical Sample: (Sullivan & Garden, 2011; n = 96; age range 18 – 78, 70% aged between 18- 29; 73% men)
Nonclinical sample: (Sullivan & Garden, 2011)
Concurrent Validity:
Nonclinical sample: (Sullivan & Garden, 2011)
Convergent Validity:
Nonclinical sample: (Sullivan & Garden, 2011)
Divergent Validity:
Nonclinical sample: (Sullivan & Garden, 2011)
Crawford S, Wenden FJ, Wade DT. The Rivermead head injury follow up questionnaire: a study of a new rating scale and other measures to evaluate outcome after head injury. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 1996;60(5): 510-514. doi:10.1136/jnnp.60.5.510.
de Guise E, Bélanger S, Tinawi S, et al. Usefulness of the rivermead postconcussion symptoms questionnaire and the trail-making test for outcome prediction in patients with mild traumatic brain injury. Applied Neuropsychology Adult. 2016;23(3):213-222. doi:10.1080/23279095.2015.1038747.
Eyres S, Carey A, Gilworth G, Neumann V, Tennant A. Construct validity and reliability of the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire. Clinical Rehabilitation. 2005;19(8):878-887.
Hermann N, Rapoport M, et al. Factor Analysis of the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire in Mild-to-Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury patients. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2009 Spring;21(2):181-8. doi: 10.1176/appi.neuropsych.21.2.181
Ingrebrigsten T, Waterloo K, Marup-Jensen S., Attner E. Quantification of post-concussion symptoms 3 months after minor head injury in 100 consecutive patients. Journal of Neurology 1998;245(9):609-612.
King NS, Crawford S, Wenden FJ, Moss NEG, Wade DT. The Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire: A measure of symptoms commonly experienced after head injury and its reliability. Journal of Neurology. 1995;242(9):587-592. doi:10.1007/BF00868811.
King NS. Emotional, neuropsychological, and organic factors: their use in the prediction of persisting postconcussion symptoms after moderate and mild head injuries. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 1996;61(1):75-81.
King NS, Crawford S, Wenden FJ, Caldwell FE, Wade DT. Early prediction of persisting post-concussion symptoms following mild and moderate head injuries. The British Journal of Clinical Psychology. 1999;38 (Pt 1):15-25.
Lundin, A., de Boussard, C., Edman, G., & Borg, J. Symptoms and disability until 3 months after mild TBI. Brain Injury. 2006; 20(8): 799-806. doi: 10.1080/0269905060074432
Medvedev ON, Theadom A, Barker-Collo S, Feigin V, BIONIC Research Group. Distinguishing between enduring and dynamic concussion symptoms: applying Generalisability Theory to the Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ). PeerJ, Vol 6, p e5676 (2018). doi:10.7717/peerj.5676.
Sullivan K, Garden N. A comparison of the psychometric properties of 4 postconcussion syndrome measures in a nonclinical sample. The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. 2011;26(2):170-176. doi:10.1097/HTR.0b013e3181e47f95.
We have reviewed more than 500 instruments for use with a number of diagnoses including stroke, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury among several others.