There is no real difference between the terms “concussion” and “mild traumatic brain injury,” yet the term doctors use makes a big difference in the seriousness with which the injury is treated, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics.

During the study, doctors tracked 268 children admitted to a hospital in Ontario, Canada, after suffering a head trauma. One-third of them were given the diagnosis of “concussion,” while the others got some variation of “traumatic brain injury (TBI).” Those with a diagnosis of “concussion” were 1-1/2 times as likely to be discharged from the hospital as those with a “mild TBI” diagnosis.

The study suggests that a children who’s given the diagnosis of concussion, the less like the family is to consider it a brain injury. These children may be sent back to school or allowed to return to normal activity sooner than they should.