Article

OBJECTIVE: To provide reliable change confidence intervals for common clinical
concussion measures using a healthy sample of collegiate athletes and to apply
these reliable change parameters to a sample of concussed collegiate athletes.
METHODS: Two independent samples were included in the study and evaluated on
common clinical measures of concussion. The healthy sample included male,
collegiate football student-athletes (n = 38) assessed at 2 time points. The
concussed sample included college-aged student-athletes (n = 132) evaluated
before and after a concussion. Outcome measures included symptom severity scores,
Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics throughput scores, and Sensory
Organization Test composite scores. RESULTS: Application of the reliable change
parameters suggests that a small percentage of concussed participants were
impaired on each measure. We identified a low sensitivity of the entire battery
(all measures combined) of 50% but high specificity of 96%. CONCLUSIONS:
Clinicians should be trained in understanding clinical concussion measures and
should be aware of evidence suggesting the multifaceted battery is more sensitive
than any single measure. Clinicians should be cautioned that sensitivity to
balance and neurocognitive impairments was low for each individual measure.
Applying the confidence intervals to our injured sample suggests that these
measures do not adequately identify postconcussion impairments when used in
isolation.

Langue : ANGLAIS