Predictors of cognitive performance after sports concussion: preliminary report of Arg-SCARS

Abstract

To investigate the predictors of cognitive performance of adult rugby players with concussion during the first 72 h. Patients with sports concussion may present cognitive deficits within the first days after neurotrauma, which in turn may lead to post-concussion syndrome and/or long-term cognitive dysfunction. Few studies investigated factors related to cognitive performance in rugby concussions players during the first 72 h. The participants were drawn from the Argentina- Sports Concussion Assessment & Research Study (Arg-SCARS). The Arg-SCARS was created to assess all rugby players in the office setting two or three days after concussion. Such multimodal assessment includes a clinical interview, symptom self-report, neurocognitive testing, and vestibular-oculomotor screening. A multiple linear regression was calculated including all participants to determine which variables predicted global cognitive performance as assessed by a global composite score. Ninety-two rugby players with concussion (aged 17-34 years) participated in the study. The mean age was 22 years-old and 71.7% of the subjects had more than 15 years of education. 20% competed in elite teams. The number of years playing rugby and of concussions was 14.72 and 1.94, respectively. The average severity score of post-concussion symptoms was 14.49. 47.3% had post-traumatic amnesia. Compared to normative data, 13.2% of subjects had reduced global memory as measured by the memory composite score. The ANOVA test showed the existence of a linear relationship between the set of predictor variables and cognitive performance (F (6) = 6,708, p = 0.002). A higher duration of post-traumatic amnesia (p = 0.037) and higher severity of post-concussion symptoms (p = 0.01) were associated with lower global cognitive composite score even after adjusting for the other variables in the model. The major determinants of poor cognitive performance in adult rugby players within the first 72 h after concussion were duration of post-traumatic amnesia and severity of post-concussion symptoms.