A - 12 Pre-existing Anxiety and Vestibular Symptoms: The Relationship to Balance and Reaction Time in College Athletes

Abstract

Abstract Objective Pre-existing physical and mental health conditions can contribute to deficits in reaction time and balance among athletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether athletes who endorsed symptoms of anxiety and/or vestibular dysfunction would have slower reaction time and worse balance than athletes who did not. Methods College athletes (n = 361) at the Florida Institute of Technology who completed a pre-participation baseline evaluation including the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT-5) Baseline version, Balance Error Scoring System (BESS), General Anxiety Disorder Seven Item Scale (GAD-7), and Sway Balance App. Results T-tests indicated athletes who endorsed no anxiety were shown to have better balance on Sway than athletes who endorsed at least one symptom of anxiety, (t(237) = 2.73, p = 0.007, d = 0.31. Athletes who endorsed no vestibular symptoms were also shown to have better balance on Sway than those who endorsed at least one vestibular symptom, t(359) = 2.14, p = 0.03, d = 0.27. Correlational results demonstrated as symptoms of anxiety (r = −0.21, n = 361, p < 0.001) or vestibular dysfunction (r = −0.15, n = 361, p = 0.006) increase, balance performance on Sway decreases. Post-hoc Tukey indicated athletes who endorsed either anxiety or vestibular symptoms had lower scores and thus worse balance on Sway than athletes who endorsed no symptoms (p = 0.009). Conclusions Findings suggest that pre-existing anxiety and vestibular symptoms have a negative impact on balance, supporting need for their inclusion in athletic concussion testing protocols.