The results of this systematic review identify the consistent and prevalent indicators of concussion and their associations , derived from the strongest evidence in the published literature .
BACKGROUND Currently , there is no evidence -based definition for concussion that is being uniformly applied in clinical and research setting s. OBJECTIVE To conduct a systematic review of the highest- quality literature about concussion and to assemble evidence about the prevalence and associations of key indicators of concussion .
The goal was to establish an evidence -based foundation from which to derive , in future work , a definition , diagnostic criteria , and prognostic indicators for concussion .
Neuropsychological Test Performance Prior To and Following Sports-Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Objective To examine the utility of neuropsychological tests in assessing college athletes prior to and following a sports-related mild Traumatic Brain Injury ( mTBI ) . Design A prospect i ve study of college athletes who sustained mTBI while engaged in sport . Preinjury baseline neuropsychological test data were obtained for athletes at risk for mTBI . Following an mTBI , the athlete and his or her matched noninjured control were evaluated at 2 hours , 48 hours , 1 week , and 1 month postinjury . Setting Male and female athletes from a Division I college . Participants Male and female athletes from the football , men 's ice hockey , men 's and women 's soccer , and men 's and women 's basketball teams at Penn State University . A total of 29 injured and 20 noninjured athletes participated in the study . Interventions Neuropsychological test batteries were administered at baseline and serially following mTBI . Main Outcome Measures Post-Concussion Symptom Checklist , Hopkins Verbal Learning Test , Symbol Digit Modalities Test , Stroop Color-Word Test , Trail Making Test , VIGIL/W , List Learning , Digit Span , Penn State Cancellation Test , and Controlled Oral Word Association . Results Neuropsychological test data yielded significant differences between injured athletes and controls at 2 hours and 48 hours following cerebral concussion ; injured athletes performing significantly worse than controls . Injured athletes reported a significantly greater number of postconcussion symptoms 2 hours following injury but not at the 48-hour assessment . No multivariate group differences were found at 1 week , but univariate analyses suggested significant differences on a few measures . At 1 month postinjury , a statistically significant difference was found on one measure with injured athletes marginally outperforming controls . Conclusions Neuropsychological tests are useful in the detection of cognitive impairment following mTBI . The test data appear to be more effective than subjective report of symptoms in differentiating between injured and noninjured athletes at 48 hours postinjury . Although significant individual variability existed , most injured athletes recovered within 1 week of injury . A battery of tests , rather than any single test , is necessary to capture the variability that exists among injured athletes
The results of this systematic review identify the consistent and prevalent indicators of concussion and their associations , derived from the strongest evidence in the published literature .
BACKGROUND Currently , there is no evidence -based definition for concussion that is being uniformly applied in clinical and research setting s. OBJECTIVE To conduct a systematic review of the highest- quality literature about concussion and to assemble evidence about the prevalence and associations of key indicators of concussion .
The goal was to establish an evidence -based foundation from which to derive , in future work , a definition , diagnostic criteria , and prognostic indicators for concussion .