A - 26 A Survey of Sports Concussion Specialists’Clinical Criteria to Determine Concussion Recovery

Abstract

Abstract Purpose To identify criteria used by sports concussion specialists in determining recovery from sport-related concussion. We hypothesized differences in use of decision-making criteria among neuropsychologists, physicians, and certified athletic trainers (ATCs). Method 143 sports concussion specialists (neuropsychologists = 45, physicians = 41, and certified athletic trainers (ATCs) = 57) completed a survey rating the importance of specific criteria for determining concussion recovery in youth and adult athletes. Differences between specialist groups were examined with Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results There were significant differences in criteria ratings across specialist groups regarding youth and adults for “use of neurocognitive test scores,”“balance testing,”“physical examination,”“no symptom provocation with neurocognitive testing,”“athlete report of anxiety about return to sport,“and “family member’s report of recovery,“all p’s < 0.001. For youth and adults, physicians ranked “use of neurocognitive test scores”and “no symptom provocation with neurocognitive testing”as less important than other providers, while “physician examination”was ranked as more important. Neuropsychologists ranked “balance testing”and “athlete report of anxiety about return to sport”as less important than other providers; and ATCs ranked “family member’s report of recovery”as less important than other providers. Conclusions Our results advance understanding of multidisciplinary standards of care in determining recovery from sports concussion and suggest the importance of collaboration in establishing clinical criteria common to all sports concussion health care providers.