Do children and adolescent ice hockey players with and without a history of concussion differ in robotic testing of sens
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RESEARCH
Open Access
Do children and adolescent ice hockey players with and without a history of concussion differ in robotic testing of sensory, motor and cognitive function? C. Elaine Little1*, Carolyn Emery2, Stephen H. Scott3, Willem Meeuwisse1, Luz Palacios-Derflingher4 and Sean P. Dukelow5
Abstract Background: KINARM end point robotic testing on a range of tasks evaluating sensory, motor and cognitive function in children/adolescents with no neurologic impairment has been shown to be reliable. The objective of this study was to determine whether differences in baseline performance on multiple robotic tasks could be identified between pediatric/adolescent ice hockey players (age range 10–14) with and without a history of concussion. Methods: Three hundred and eighty-five pediatric/adolescent ice hockey players (ages 10–14) completed robotic testing (94 with and 292 without a history of concussion). Five robotic tasks characterized sensorimotor and/or cognitive performance with assessment of reaching, position sense, bimanual motor function, visuospatial skills, attention and decision-making. Seventy-six performance parameters are reported across all tasks. Results: There were no significant differences in performance demonstrated between children with a history of concussion [median number of days since last concussion: 480 (range 8–3330)] and those without across all five tasks. Performance by the children with no history of concussion was used to identify parameter reference ranges that spanned 95 % of the group. All 76 parameter means from the concussion group fell within the normative reference ranges. Conclusions: There are no differences in sensorimotor and/or cognitive performance across multiple parameters using KINARM end point robotic testing in children/adolescents with or without a history of concussion. Keywords: Robot, Sensorimotor, Cognitive assessment, Child/adolescent, Concussion, Ice hockey
Background The rate of child and adolescent participation in organized sport is high, which has significant health benefits related to regular exercise. However, youth sustain sport-related concussions, accounting for more than 15 % of all injuries in 9–16 year old players [1–3]. Concussion is a brain injury and has been defined as a complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by biomechanical forces [4]. In general, the majority (80–90 %) of concussions resolve in a short (7–10 days) period [5, 6]. Our * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
understanding of the impact of concussion(s) on the brain is limited, however neuropsychological deficits have been observed in adults over a time span ranging from 24 h to 3 years [7–15]. Within the last decade research related to concussion in children and adolescents has rapidly expanded [16–18]. Of particular interest is the number of sport-related concussions sustained while playing ice hockey, which is
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