A-06 Football-playing Youth May Have Lower Baseline TOMM Trial 1 Performance Than Youth In Other Sports

Abstract

Abstract Purpose The TOMM assesses whether examinees’ memory performance is valid (Tombaugh, 1996). American football players have increased risk of invalid performance on baseline testing, possibly due to wanting to resume play after injury, and these results have been replicated in collegiate football players. America’s four most popular sports are football, basketball, soccer and baseball. Youth football players remain understudied, and the sports at the highest risk of suboptimal performance are unknown. Methods A univariate analysis of covariance examined mean TOMM Trial 1 scores in baseline youth athletes (n=143, 79.9% male), comparing football players (n=79) and non-football players (n=64). Quade’s ANCOVAs also examined soccer, baseball and basketball vs. non-respective sports players, excluding participants who played football (n=42, 23, 23, respectively). Gender was covaried. Results Youth athletes in the football group performed significantly worse on TOMM Trial 1 than participants in the non-football group (M=45.96, 47.81, respectively, p=.033). There were no group differences in performance on TOMM Trial 1 in soccer, baseball, and basketball players (p=.33, .35, .38, respectively). Conclusions These results indicate that youth athletes who play football may be at a higher risk of suboptimal test performance than other sports, similar to previous findings in older football players. More scrutiny for this population may be necessary during baseline testing in order to ensure the safest return to play possible. Education on concussion effects and the importance of valid baseline testing should also be implemented.