Evaluating a Test of Reaction Time in Baseline Concussion Testing for Youth Athletes

James MacDonald, MD, MPH

Principal Investigator

Division of Sports Medicine, Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Phone: 614-355-8755

E-mail:

Every summer since 2011 (2014 will be the fourth consecutive summer) the research team I head up has conducted on-going evaluation of a reaction time measure (RTclin = “Clinical Reaction Time Measure”). We had an OSU medical student as part of our team last summer.

Objective: A common sequela of concussions is impaired reaction time. Computerized neurocognitive tests commonly measure reaction time (RTcomp).RTclinis an analog device which has been studied previously in college athletes; whether this test is valid and reliable when assessing younger athletes remains unknown. Our study examines the reliability and validityof this test in a population of high school athletes.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Two American High Schools.

Subjects: High School Athletes participating in Football and Boys/Girls soccer

Interventions: All study participants complete a baseline neurocognitive assessment that includes RTclin and RTcomp.

Main OutcomeMeasures: This year we are especially looking at possible covariates of interest, specifically number of previous concussions and estimate of hours slept the night before administration of RTclin and RTcomp. We have never asked about these variables during the previous years of testing and will be using a new survey item to capture these data. We will also conduct ongoing assessments of the reliability of the RTclin measure.

Previous Work:We have produced abstracts from this work as well as two manuscripts that are currently under review for journal publication:

  • Duerson, D, Wilson, J, Young, J, Swisher, G, Collins, C, MacDonald, J, Comparison of Baseline Reaction Time in High School Athletes over Two Consecutive Years in Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, 2013; 23(2): 132 – 133.
  • Wilson, J, Young, J, Swisher, G, Collins, C, MacDonald, J, Effect of Concussion on a Simple Test of Reaction Time in High School Athletes, in Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, 2013; 23(2): 130 – 131.
  • MacDonald, J, Wilson J, Young J, Swisher G, Collins, C, Meehan, W: Evaluation of a Simple Test of Reaction Time in the Diagnosis and Management of Concussions in High School Athletes, in Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine 2012; 22(2): 187 – 188.
  • MacDonald, J, Duerson D, Reliability of a Computerized Neurocognitive Test in High School Athletes, Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, in review
  • MacDonald J, Wilson J, Young J, et al., Evaluation of a Simple Test of Reaction Time in Baseline Concussion Testing in a Population of High School Athletes, inClinical Journal of Sports Medicine, in review