Concussion history's impact on stability evaluation test scores in male division I lacrosse and football players.

BACKGROUND

Concussion baseline testing is standard practice in collegiate athletes. The influence of concussion history on balance performance remains pervasive, especially with computerized, quantified measures. The aim of this study was to explore concussion history on baseline balance measures.

METHODS

A total of 175 division I football and men's lacrosse players (height = 182.6±5.6 cm, weight = 91.7±15.4 kg, age = 19.8±1.2 years) performed the Stability Evaluation Test (SET) on the VSR Sport by NeuroCom®.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences between those with a positive and negative concussion history on the seven balance measurements. There were significant differences between sports with lacrosse players reporting lower sway velocities on the double leg firm (P=0.001), tandem firm (P=0.003), double leg foam (P=0.002), single-leg foam (P<0.001), and total composite score (P=0.002).

CONCLUSIONS

A previous history of a concussion does not appear to influence velocity sway measures. Velocity sway measures may differ between various collegiate teams.