A-39 Baseline And Initial Post-Injury Presentation Of Athletes With Self-Reported Neurodevelopmental Disorders As Measured By ImPACT

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: To compare neurocognitive profiles of high school athletes with self-reported LD and/or ADHD neurodevelopmental disorders (ND) to controls at baseline (BL) and during initial post-injury (PI) testing with ImPACT. Methods: A sample of 155 (112 males, 43 females) high school athletes who completed BL and PI testing with ImPACT from 2019 to present was analyzed. Students who self-reported ND (n = 36) were compared to those who did not. ImPACT composites Verbal Memory (VM), Visual Memory (VisM), Visual Motor Speed (VMS), Reaction Time (RT), Impulse Control (IC), and Total Symptom Score (TSS) were measured as dependent variables. Data was analyzed using multiple one-way ANOVA’s accounting for gender and presence of ND as fixed factors. Results: One-way ANOVA (CI = 95%) revealed a five-point difference on BL-VMS between NDs and controls (p < 0.001). ND students’ performance declined more after injury on VMS (p = 0.042). Analysis also showed ND PI-IC score about two points higher than controls (p = 0.014). With respect to gender, females reported greater symptoms on PI and more symptom increase than their male counterparts (p < 0.001, p = 0.01; respectively). Lastly, ND males performed eight points lower on BL-VM than ND females (p = 0.031). Conclusions: The present study confirms that performance differences on ImPACT VMS may be expected between student-athletes with self-reported ND and their counterparts. Gender appears to contribute to performance on some measures of ImPACT; females endorse more symptoms than males PI, and ND males perform worse on BL-VM than ND females.