Abstract
Objective Explore the effect of baseline characteristics such as sex, sport, and concussion history on the Concussion Balance Test (COBALT) performance in collegiate athletes.
Background The COBALT is a recently developed clinical balance assessment specifically for athletic populations following concussion. The task conditions of the COBALT are designed to challenge sensory integration and reweighting processing underlying postural control. It has been documented that balance performance is influenced by factors such as sex and sport in collegiate athletes.
Design/Methods One-hundred twenty seven collegiate athletes (77 male, 50 female; age: 19.81 ± 1.39; height: 68.77 ± 5.57 in; mass: 80.98 ± 26.15 kg), who participated in Division-I football, soccer, or cheerleading were included. Participants completed the 4 baseline conditions (Condition 3, 4, 7, 8) of the COBALT. Condition 3 (C3) included a side-to-side headshake with eyes closed. For Condition 4 (C4) the participant stood with hands clasped, elbows extended, and thumbs up while rotating their trunk side-to-side, visually focusing on their thumbs. Conditions 7 (C7) and 8 (C8) repeated C3 and C4 on a foam surface. Two 20-second trials of each condition were completed on a forceplate and the mean angular sway velocity (°/s) were calculated and number of errors were counted. ANOVAs and ANCOVAs were used to assess the potential effects on COBALT performance.
Results There were no significant differences in postural sway for any COBALT condition based on sex (p > 0.05). Females demonstrated more errors than males on C7 (p < 0.001). Cheerleaders had more balance errors compared to football athletes for C3 and C7 (p < 0.05) and soccer athletes for C7 (p < 0.05). Concussion history did not have an effect on COBALT performance (p > 0.05).
Conclusions Understanding factors that may influence COBALT performance at baseline may enhance concussion evaluation in collegiate athletes with suspected balance deficits following concussion. While concussion history had no effect, sex and sports participation may influence performance and should be considered when interpreting COBALT results post-concussion.
Footnotes
Disclosure: Carolina Quintana has nothing to disclose. Nathan Morelli has nothing to disclose. Miss Andrews has nothing to disclose. Miss Kelly has nothing to disclose. The institution of Dr. Heebner has received research support from Department of Defense. Dr. Heebner has a non-compensated relationship as a Co-Investigator with Bertec Corp. that is relevant to AAN interests or activities. Matthew Hoch has received personal compensation in the range of $500–$4,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for Human Kinetics. An immediate family member of Matthew Hoch has received personal compensation in the range of $500–$4,999 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for Human Kinetics. The institution of Matthew Hoch has received research support from Bertec Corporation.
- © 2021 American Academy of Neurology
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Differences in Age-related Retinal and Cortical Atrophy Rates in Multiple Sclerosis
Prof. Massimo Filippi and Dr. Paolo Preziosa