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Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ)

Quantify the presence and severity of symptoms from a concussion, traumatic brain injury (TBI), or accident with this self-report scale in Creyos Health

 

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Benefits for Healthcare Providers

The RPQ assessment in Creyos evaluates post-concussive symptoms and severity over time to help support effective treatment and symptom management.

Workflow-1

Simplify Administration

Administer the RPQ alongside cognitive tasks to determine if a patient requires further cognitive testing or rehabilitation.

One Platform

Increase Access to Care

Give patients the option to complete the RPQ in person or at home, improving access to assessment and treatment.

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Track Patient Health 

Benchmark and continuously evaluate post-concussive symptom progression with a centralized patient health record that includes longitudinal data.

Head Injuries Can Have a Long-Term Impact on Cognitive Health

Time since injury, affected brain areas, age, sex, and baseline physical and cognitive health can all affect a patient’s symptom severity. Discover how digitized questionnaires alongside measures of cognitive function in Creyos Health can support patient outcomes.

Review our guide below for a complete list of standardized questionnaires available in Creyos.

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Head Injury

Preview the Creyos RPQ Sample Report

The Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire offered through Creyos is a self-report scale designed to measure symptoms associated with post-concussion syndrome.

When administered alongside measures of cognitive performance, it allows clinicians to:

  • Efficiently measure and track post-concussion symptoms
  • Give patients the option to complete in person or remotely
  • Reduce administrative burden with automated scoring and results

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RPQ Report

How to Use the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire

Step 1: Explain the Questionnaire

Patients can complete the RPQ in person through the Creyos Health platform on an in-clinic device or at home through a provided link.

Step 2: Administer Questionnaire

The RPQ contains a series of questions that asks patients to rate the severity of post-concussion symptoms in the last 24 hours on a scale from 0 (“not experienced at all”) to 4 (“a severe problem”).

Step 3: Review Results

Creyos Health automatically scores RPQ results and provides reports. Higher scores indicate a greater severity of post-concussion symptoms.

Step 4: Compare With Cognitive Results

Healthcare providers can discuss results with patients and plan for follow-up assessments to track meaningful changes in cognitive health over time.

How to use RPQ

Concussions: A Public Health Concern

Between 1.6 and 3.8 million concussions occur each year in the United States as a result of sports or recreational activities, and experts say that many more go unreported. These injuries can lead to a range of cognitive, physical, emotional, and sensory issues that can last for years or decades. Executive functioning deficits in particular—including attention, short- and long-term memory, processing speed, planning, and decision-making—can significantly reduce a person’s quality of life post-concussion.

A study using Creyos Health tasks found identical difficulties with response inhibition (measured using our Double Trouble task) in both members of the general public who had a history of concussion and an independent sample of American football players. This emphasizes the need for comprehensive symptom measurement and tracking, such as the RPQ and cognitive tasks in Creyos Health.

Source: Harmon & Drezner, 2013; Ledwidge et al., 2022; Stafford et al., 2020

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Simplify Patient Concussion and TBI Assessments with Creyos

Administer the RPQ, digitized behavioral health questionnaires, and online cognitive tasks—all in one place.

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Frequently asked questions

What is a concussion?

A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury that can occur after a blow to the head or violent movement, often as a result of sports injuries or vehicle collisions. Symptoms can include headaches, dizziness, cognitive deficits, and more.

How is concussion related to cognition?

On average, immediate effects of concussions can be detected in cognitive function tests. One review (Belanger & Venderploeg, 2005) found that, within 24 hours of a sports-related concussion, memory and global cognitive functioning are significantly impaired. Other studies (e.g., Bleiberg et al., 2004) find that, in certain conditions, other cognitive domains, or an inability to learn quickly, are impaired in the days immediately following a concussion.

Most research finds that the cognitive symptoms of concussion fade within 3 to 7 days after the injury. However, there is variability in recovery time (see McCrea et al., 2003), perhaps due to variations in clinical management of symptoms. Furthermore, concussions may have subtle but detectable long-term effects. A study using Creyos Health tasks (Stafford et al., 2020) found identical difficulties with response inhibition (measured using our Double Trouble task) in both members of the general public who had a history of concussion and an independent sample of American football players.

 

What is the RPQ?

The RPQ is a self-report scale designed to measure symptoms associated with post-concussion syndrome (PCS). A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury that can occur after a blow to the head or violent movement, often as a result of sports injuries or vehicle collisions. Symptoms can include headaches, dizziness, cognitive deficits, and more. The types of symptoms and their severity depend on multiple factors, such as the nature of the injury, age, sex, and the effectiveness of treatment or symptom management—that is why it is essential to measure symptoms and brain function over time using tools like the RPQ.

Where did the RPQ questionnaire come from?

The Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire was developed by N.S. King et al. in 1995 as a way to measure symptoms commonly experienced after head injury.

Who uses the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire?

The RPQ is commonly used by healthcare professionals (including sports medicine specialists, neurologists, primary care physicians, and physical therapists), organizations, researchers, and individuals to measure post-concussion symptoms.

How is the RPQ scored?

The RPQ is a self-report questionnaire that includes a series of questions related to post-concussion symptoms such as physical, cognitive, emotional, sensory, and sleep-related impairments. Questions are scored on a scale of 0 (“not experienced at all”) to 4 (“a severe problem”).

An overall score between 16 and 35 may be indicative of post-concussion syndrome, and greater than 35 may also be predictive of moderate to severe limitations in brain function. The RPQ can be paired with additional questionnaires and cognitive tasks to get a more objective picture of brain health.

How does administration and scoring of the RPQ work in Creyos?

Administration is flexible and efficient; questionnaires can be administered by a mental health provider or technician, either in-clinic or emailed to the patient to be completed remotely. This flexibility allows providers to maximize their appointment time with patients, and reduce time spent on scoring or recording session notes.

When a patient completes the RPQ, providers get immediate insights through easy-to-read reports that combine questionnaire data with cognitive test results for a full picture of patient brain health. 

Creyos can also use APIs to integrate with a variety of electronic health systems (EHR) and has a built-in integration with athenahealth. Our platform automatically collects, scores, and organizes results from each questionnaire and adds them to the patient’s EHR.

What symptoms does the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire evaluate?

The RPQ evaluates symptoms following a concussion, including physical (headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light or sound, fatigue, sleep disturbances), cognitive (difficulty concentrating, memory issues, slowed thinking, poor judgment, difficulty following conversations), emotional (irritability, anxiety, depression, mood swings), and sensory (blurred vision, tinnitus, numbness, tingling). 

How can the RPQ questionnaire support patients?

The RPQ should be used as a screening tool to assist primary care providers or health professionals in understanding post-concussion symptoms and monitoring behaviors over time. Any conclusions drawn from the RPQ should be paired with further assessment, such as clinical interviews and observations, additional mental health examinations or assessments, and evaluations of the patient’s level of distress, functional impairment, and/or family history.

What can the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire not do?

The RPQ can serve as a starting point for conversations between patients and healthcare providers about symptoms after a head injury, but it does not suggest a particular diagnosis or course of treatment on its own. RPQ scores are meant as an aid to quantify and measure the presence and severity of symptoms and behaviors over time.

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