A - 161 Acute Injury Characteristics and Cognitive Post-Concussion Symptom Reporting in Collegiate Athletes with Sports-Related Concussion.

Abstract

Surprisingly little is known about how acute injury characteristics (i.e., loss of consciousness [LOC], retrograde amnesia [RA], and anterograde amnesia [AA]) predict cognitive symptom reporting after sports-related concussion (SRC). This study examined this relationship in collegiate athletes who sustained an SRC. We predicted that athletes who endorsed LOC, RA, and AA would report more cognitive symptoms. 141 collegiate athletes who recently sustained an SRC were grouped based on whether they experienced LOC, RA, or AA. Cognitive symptoms were assessed by the cognitive cluster of the Post Concussion Symptoms Scale (PCSS-Cog) both categorically (i.e., presence of symptoms) and continuously (i.e., total score). Chi-square tests investigated group differences on the presence of cognitive symptoms, and independent samples t-tests examined group differences on PCSS-Cog scores. Athletes who experienced RA were significantly more likely to report cognitive symptoms than those without RA (RA+/PCSS-Cog+ = 62.50%; RA-/PCSS-Cog+ = 40.17%), X2 (1, N = 141) = 4.03, p = 0.045. Similar results were observed for athletes who endorsed AA (AA+/PCSS-Cog+ = 58.82%; AA-/PCSS-Cog+ = 35.56%), X2 (1, N = 141) = 7.15, p = 0.007. There was not a significant relationship between cognitive symptom endorsement and LOC. Athletes who experienced AA had significantly higher PCSS-Cog scores (M = 3.27, SD = 4.60) than those without AA (M = 1.39, SD = 3.04), t(75.22) = 2.62, p = 0.011, 95% CI[0.45, 3.32]. However, there was not a significant relationship between PCSS-Cog scores and LOC or RA. Results suggest that athletes who experience amnesia during SRC are more likely to report cognitive symptoms post-concussion. Moreover, amnesia may be a risk factor for increased self-reported cognitive dysfunction, and athletes who experience RA and especially AA may require more careful SRC management.