A-58 ImPACT remote administration? Can athletes take it at home?

Abstract

Abstract Purpose The current study aimed to evaluate environmental effects of neurocognitive baseline performance and overall symptom reports among student-athletes who took the ImPACT baseline assessment in a clinical setting or their home environment. Methods Participants were selected from an archival de-identified database. The sample consisted of 1,893 (37.3% male and 62.7% female) student-athletes with a mean age of 19.71 years. All student-athletes were administered ImPACT as a neurocognitive baseline screener prior to the beginning of their respective sport. Student-athletes were further divided into two groups: 1. At-home (n=405), and 2. In-clinic (n=405). Multiple independent samples t-tests were utilized to compare mean composite scores between the two groups. Results The independent samples t-test yielded a significant difference between groups on the ImPACT reaction time composite score, t(1891)=3.81, p<.001, and total symptom score, t(1891)=1.74, p=.024. Student-athletes who completed ImPACT at home demonstrated a significantly higher (slower) reaction time while also reporting significantly fewer symptoms. Conclusions When COVID-19 shut down our once-perceived “normal” societal function, university athletics were forced to change how they conducted concussion baseline screening for their student-athletes. The findings of the present study suggest the need for careful consideration regarding the environment of such neurocognitive baseline assessments as some factors including reaction time and total symptom report may be influenced by the test setting. Future studies should further explore possible confounding variables related to concussion assessment, such as test environment, that may be a unique precipitating factor of the COVID-19 pandemic.