Neuropsychological testing in asymptomatic high school football players
Date
2015
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Context: Concussion is a growing topic of concern in sports today, especially football. More recently, the topic of subconcussive head impacts (SCHI) and their effect on athletes has been discussed. Some recent evidence has shown that repeated SCHI may have a detrimental effect on the neuropsychological (NP) performance of football players, however these same athletes may not present with any overt concussion-related symptoms. Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to examine a group of high school football players who are asymptomatic for concussion after game play and determine if there are any NP deficits and/or lingering concussion-related symptoms as compared to baseline in the days following a competitive game. Design: Two-group pretest-posttest design. Setting: All NP testing was performed in quiet, climate-controlled computer laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 28 male student-athletes (Age: 16.3 ± 0.9 years, Height: 69.9 ± 2.9 cm, Mass: 171.6 ± 28.3 kg) were recruited from a local high school to participate in this study. Nineteen of the participants were selected from the interscholastic varsity football team. Simultaneously, a group of nine student-athletes from the interscholastic varsity cross-country served as the counterpart non-collision sport controls. Main Outcome Measures: A repeated measures MANOVA was run on the dependent variables for this study that involved the four ImPACT composite scores (verbal memory, visual memory, visual speed, and reaction time). Additionally, we used the ImPACT concussion symptom score for comparison. The independent variables included group (football vs. cross-country) and time (test sessions). Results: There was no significant 3-way Time x Group x Test interaction across all time points (p = 0.129). There was a significant group x time interaction at time point 1 in verbal memory composite scores between the groups (p = 0.020). We also discovered clinically significant findings using the Reliable Change Index for detecting changes in ImPACT scores when examining the results on an individual subject basis. Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that although asymptomatic for SRC, there were a large number of football players who demonstrated diminished NP scores on the days between games, yet they continued participating. These results seem to mirror findings in previous research. Keywords: ImPACT, Traumatic Brain Injury, Sport Related Concussion, Subconcussive Head Impacts, Subconcussive Neurotrauma, Neurocognitive Test.