the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3 and King-devick test as a protocol of concussion evaluation: establishment of normative data in football
Open Access
- Author:
- Yamaguchi, Itsuko
- Graduate Program:
- Kinesiology
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- April 11, 2014
- Committee Members:
- William E Buckley, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
- Keywords:
- Concussion
SCAT3
King-Devick
baseline data - Abstract:
- The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3 (SCAT3) and the King-Devick (K-D) test are clinical sideline assessment tools developed to evaluate concussions. The SCAT3 is composed of several tests in a variety of concussive domains including symptoms, cognitive and physical evaluation, attention, concentration, balance assessment, and coordination. SCAT3 takes 15-20 minutes to administer, and is the most widely used on-the- field concussion evaluation instrument in the sports medicine field. The K-D test is a relatively new instrument based on impaired the evaluation of eye movements, attention, and suboptimal brain functions. The rapid number identification task takes approximately 2 minutes to administer and has a potential advantage as a faster concussion assessment tool on the field; however, to date there have been few investigations looking at its efficacy on different subject populations. This retrospective investigation was conducted to characterize baseline data for the SCAT3 and the K-D tests in terms of concussive history and level of participation, leading into potentially establishing a normative baseline data for the two tests. The study included middle school and high school football players who performed both tests in the pre-season period for baseline concussion testing. Results for the SCAT3 demonstrated a significant difference in past concussion recovery time between different concussive history, and a difference in orientation score, concentration score, length of recovery from previous concussion, Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC) delayed recall score, and concussive history when compared between different levels of team. There were no statistically significant differences between any variables on the K-D test. These outcomes suggest that the SCAT3 results differ between different athletes with different concussive history or levels of competition, and suggest invalidity to establish normative data for the SCAT3. Results for the K-D indicate a possibility of establishing normative data, but more control among the administration of the test is needed. The findings do not implicate a correlation between all variables, and further research is needed to apply these findings in a clinical setting and establish efficacy of both tests.