A Complete Concussion Management System.

CNS Vital Signs & Pearson

PRESENTERS:CHARLES SHINAVER PH.D.

& PETER C. ENTWISTLE PH.D.

AGENDA:• Intro Concussion Vital Signs • Why Pearson & Concussion baseline testing?• Concussions, how many are really affected? Which sports? • Baseline tests matter because of the invisible effects of concussions.• Validity & Reliability of tests create the basis of sound decision 

making.  • How does a concussion affect learning?• Complete Concussion Management System: Baseline & follow up 

testing, sideline app & Clinician’s portal.• Norms• Test overview and orientation (www.concussionvitalsigns.com)

– Registration– Athlete login & best baseline testing conditions– Admin login: quick search features– Basic Report Interpretation, baseline validity indicators, post‐injury 

assessment, report graphs– Scat‐2: sideline app– Clinician’s Portal– How do you improve working memory?  – Resources tab

Priority for Offering Gap Outcome Name Outcome Description

1 62% Baseline for All Maximize Availability Of Baselines For All Athletes

2 47% Data Access Maximize Ease of Access to Relevant Historical and Current Concussion Data for Each Athlete

3 37% Communication Maximize Communication Between Concussion Decision-Makers and Influencers (Parents, Athletes, Schools, Medical)

4 36% ID Concussive Events Maximize Likelihood that all Possible Concussive Events are Detected

5 36% R-F-P Decision Maximize Correctness of Remove-From-Play (Sideline) Decision

6 31% Concussion Education Maximize Parent and Athlete Concussion Awareness Education And Compliancy

7 31% Baseline Time minimize Amount Of Time To Administer Baseline Assessment

8 30% Concussion Mgmt Maximize Confidence in Professional Knowledge of Concussion Management

9 26% R-T-P Test Accuracy Maximize Return-to-Play Assessment Accuracy

10 20% Reduce Costs Minimize Expenses To Identify and Address Concussion Issues

Why did Pearson Get Involved?Trainers Spoke. Pearson Responded. 

Pearson is well‐situated to bring the proper emphasis in the domain of concussions among youth: 

“The Return to Learn” takes priority over the “Return to Play” with student‐athletes. Invisible effects of concussions can extend after the visible symptoms are gone.If you can’t handle your normal academic load are you really symptom free? This means that VALID and RELIABLE ASSESSMENTS MATTER.  Pearson knows tests…Simply relying upon symptom report or observation is risky. 

Pearson is a Learning Company. Expertise: Education & Assessments.

Pearson has answers To questions about concussions & learning

Who is talking about how, exactly, concussions affect learning? 

Or, what might you need to do to remediate cognitive loss after a concussion?  

With Pearson this concussion management system is the beginning.  

The focus is helping student‐athletes get back learning after a concussion…

Concussions, how many are really affected?  Which Sports?

Division 1 Collegiate Sports Concussions from 1888‐89 season to 2003‐04 (Hootman, et al., 2007)

% of all injuries

Injury rate per 1000 athletic exposures

95% confidence interval

Women’s ice hockey 18.3 .91 .71, 1.11

Men’s ice hockey 7.9 .41 .37, .44Women’s lacrosse 6.3 .25 .22, .28Men’s football 6.0 .37 .36, .38Men’s spring football 5.6 .54 .50, .58

Men’s lacrosse 5.6 .25 .23, .29Women’s soccer 5.3 .41 .38, .44Women’s basketball 4.7 .22 .20, .17

Women’s softball 4.3 .14 .12, .16Women’s field hockey 3.9 .18 .15, .21

Men’s soccer 3.9 .28 .25, .30Men’s wrestling 3.3 .25 .22, .27Men’s basketball 3.2 .16 .14, .17Men’s baseball 2.5 .07 .06, .08Women’s gymnastics 2.3 .16 .12, .20

Women’s volleyball 2.0 .09 .07, .10Total concussions 5.0 .28 .27, .28

Football participation overwhelms other sports in high school.(Mueller & Cantu, National Center for Catastrophic Injury Research,2008)

Sport MenFootball 35,623,701Basketball 13,796,973Track 13,266, 497Baseball 10,916,754Soccer 7,175,341Wrestling 6,235,016Cross country 4,546,218Tennis 3,677,132Swimming 2,242,814Lacrosse 858,712Total (with lower ranking sports)

100,602,986

Sport WomenBasketball 11,041,039Track 10,747,774Softball 8,141,872Volleyball 5,364,475 

(1994‐2007)Soccer 5,184,875Tennis 3,832,588Cross country 3,486,467Swimming 2,919,225Field hockey 1,431,676Gymnastics 637,467Total (with lower ranking sports)

54,067,632

Concussions effects: A Neurometabolic Cascade 

A simple way to think about it is the software of the brain has been disrupted.  In this sense it is not observable except through symptoms, but persists beyond symptoms.   

The term cascade is a series of small waterfalls over steep rocks.  The small waterfalls in this case involve ionic, metabolic and physiologic events that obviously are unseen externally, invisible essentially, except for symptoms of concussion which are observed.

Internally there is an excitatory neurometabolic cascade:

Calcium reflux, lasting up to 6 days..Glutamate responsePotassium surgeIonic pumps work overtime to restore 

homeostasisCerebral blood flow decreasesGlucose disparityThere is an energy crisis…before normal 

functioning returns at about 6‐10 days…

Concussions are not structural damage, but neurochemical damage.

The  neurochemical changes are exhausting for the brain. Rest is a critical factor in recovery.During recovery the brain is very vulnerable. Cognitive rest is even more important than physical rest…

Observable Symptoms of Concussion tell part of the story. 

But how can you tell what is going on inside the brain?  

Visible Concussion Symptoms

Broglio, et al, 2007N=21 D1 college athletes, (16 men, 5 women). 

• Neurocognitive decrements may persist when athletes no longer report concussion‐related symptoms. 

• Reliance on athlete‐reported, post concussion symptoms when making return‐to‐play decisions may expose athletes to subsequent injury if complete recovery has not occurred.

• A multifaceted approach to concussion assessment that includes evaluation of a myriad of functions is warranted.

• Risk for Second Impact Syndrome.

• A VALID AND RELIABLE TEST IS REQUIRED.

• The exclusive use of symptom reports in making a return-to-play decision is not advised.

Why use Baseline Neurocognitive Tests? Invisible effects of concussion. 

• Long-term residual brain dysfunctions from mTBI are often overlooked by clinical criteria (Slobounov, et al., 2009).

• EEG wavelet information was used with 21 athletes (sample of 265) who suffered two concussive episodes within one athletic season and were tested on days 7, 14, and 21 post –first and second injuries.

• No neuropsychological deficits (as measured by neurocognitive tests) were present in concussed subjects beyond 7 days post-injury after first and second concussions.

• EEG-IQ measures were significantly reduced primarily at temporal, parietal and the occipital regions (ROIs) after first and especially after second MTBI ( p < 0.01) beyond 7 days post-injury.

• Rate of recovery of EEG‐IQ measures was significantly slower after second MTBI compared to those after the first concussion ( p < 0.01). 

• EEG‐IQ measures may reveal alterations in the brain of concussed individuals that are most often overlooked by current assessment tools.

• The exclusive use of symptom reports in making a return-to-play decision is not advised.

Concussion effects last beyond effects on the results of neurocognitive tests…Invisible effects of concussion #2…

How are invisible effects made visible?Valid and Reliable tests…

Simple definitions.

Valid tests measure what you think they are measuring. 

Reliable tests show consistently similar scores over time. 

Without high validity you don’t know what you are measuring?  Was an athlete “sandbagging”?  

Without high reliability the reason for a change in performance may not be a concussive event. It might be something different altogether.  

You can’t make sound decisions on bad data. 

Remember what the trainers ranked 4th highest priority:ID concussive events.   

The Brain is not the same as a sore foot…

Test Psychometrics matter…

• Neuropsychology’s role:  “neuropsychology is well positioned to provide valuable information to the forensic process about whether a child's cognitive abilities have been negatively affected by a disease or injury, the extent of the change in cognitive functioning, and the impact of cognitive problems on day‐to‐day functioning.” (Brooks & Iverson, 2012).  

• “Neurocognition” refers to the higher brain functions:  learning, remembering, concentrating, solving problems, and making decisions, one more time…LEARNING! 

• Neurocognitive processes are active in virtually all of our day‐to‐day activities. • Neurocognitive testing helps clinicians evaluate and describe the neurocognitive health or higher 

functions of the brain, such as  the impairment seen in mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) or CONCUSSIONS and helps qualified health professionals collect important information used in assessing, monitoring, and managing concussions. 

What is Neurocognitive Testing?Tapping into brain functioning from the outside.

Returning to learning…

What is Computerized Neurocognitive Testing? Time efficient & cost effective.

• Due to paper and pencil neurocognitive testing is highly accurate and flexible, but it is also rather time consuming and partly due to that fairly expensive. 

• Does your system have the time and resources to administer paper and pencil Neurocognitive tests?  Thought so…

• Computerized neurocognitive testing are tests which were developed to tap the same brain functions of learning, remembering, concentrating, solving problems and making decisions. Yet they are considered screeners and not replacements for the paper and pencil tests. Nor are they diagnostic.  

• Paper and pencil neurocognitive testing can serve as a useful reference point of comparison for concurrent validity of computerized testing.

Schools employing athletic trainers 42%Of Athletic trainers employed by schools # using a CNT 40% 

(16.5% of all schools)Districts testing only football, boys and girls soccer 70%Districts testing all athletes  30%Athletic trainers & Physicians interpret CNT results 78% Athletes tested with CNT less likely to return to play within 10 days

38% vs. 56%

Unfortunately, most Athletic Trainers don’t use CNTs. 

Computerized neuropsychological baseline testing is underutilized by athletic trainers:

(Halstead & Walker, 2010)

CNT’s preserve the health of student athletes & mitigate risk for schools (Halstead & Walker, 2010)

3rd International conference on Concussion in Sport, Zurich 

3.3 The application of neuropsychological (NP) testing in concussion has been shown to be of clinical value and continues to contribute significant information in concussion evaluation. Although in most case cognitive recovery largely overlaps with the time course of symptom recovery, it has been demonstrated that cognitive recovery may occasionally precede or more commonly follow clinical symptom resolution, suggesting that the assessment of cognitive function should be an important component in any return to play protocol. It must be emphasized however, that NP assessment should not be the sole basis of management decisions; rather it should be seen as an aid to the clinical decision‐making process in conjunction with a range of clinical domains and investigational results.

Neuropsychologists are in the best position to interpret NP tests by virtue of their background and training. However, there may be situations where neuropsychologists are not available and other medical professionals may perform or interpret NP screening tests. The ultimate return to play decision should remain a medical one in which a multidisciplinary approach, when possible, has been taken. In the absence of NP and other (e.g., formal balance assessment) testing, a more conservative return to play approach may be appropriate. In the majority of cases, NP testing will be used to assist return to play decisions and will not be done until patient is symptom free. There may be situations (e.g., child and adolescent athletes) where testing may be performed early while the patient is still symptomatic to assist in determining management. This will normally be best determined in consultation with a trained neuropsychologist.

Recommendations Neuropsychological or Computerized Neurocognitive testing from the “Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport: the 3rd International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich, November 2008

CNS Concussion Vital Signs:

Over 90 studies and …

CNS Vital Signs is a world leader in the design and development of standardized neurocognitive assessment tools by providing clinicians and researchers leading-edge assessment technologies.

As a clinical instrument, the CNS Vital Signs neurocognitive assessment tools have been used to detect impairment, follow the course of an illness, and monitor response to treatment.

CNS VS is offered in over 50 languages, used by over 6000 clinicians in 52 countries.

Want to see publications? Go here:

http://www.concussionvitalsigns.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=6

Ultimately cognitive functioning relates to learning…

Conventional Other Computerized CNS Vital Signs

Domains / Tests N r N r r

Memory 713 0.67–0.71 1801 0.65–0.69 0.66

Psychomotor Speed 1159 0.78–0.65 2228 0.72–0.79 0.88

Reaction Time 78 0.82 621 0.66–0.68 0.75

Complex Attention 554 0.70–0.73 1578 0.60–0.63 0.65

Cognitive Flexibility 139 0.68–0.74 746 0.68–0.74 0.71

Symbol Digit Coding 563 0.87–0.88 629 0.78–.85 0.82

Stroop Test 224 0.64 471 0.74 0.75

Finger Tapping Test 596 0.75–0.83 310 0.74–0.79 0.78

The conventional tests were the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Logical Memory and Facial Recognition from the Wechsler Memory Test, a mechanical finger tapper, the Stroop Test, Trails B and the Verbal Fluency Test.

Test‐retest reliability (TRT) was evaluated in CNSVS in 99 Ss who took the entire battery on two separate occasions, separated, on the average, by 62 days. The test‐retest interval ranged from 1 to 282 days, with a median interval of 27 days. The test subjects were normal volunteers (n = 40) and neuropsychiatric patients (n = 59),who were clinically stable on the same medications on two consecutive visits. In previous studies, we found that the results of the various tests in the CNS Vital Signs battery are normally distributed, save two: correct responses and errors on the 

continuous performance test. Pearson’s r was calculated for all of the tests except those that were not normally distributed, for which Spearman’s rho was used. Neither age nor clinical status had any bearing on reliability. There was no difference in reliability among children/ adolescents, young adults and older adults. The reliability of the test in patients was as least as good as normal subjects. There was a small 

decrement in reliability relative to the interval between tests.

Test – Re‐Test Reliability of Conventional tests, Computerized tests, and CNS Vital Signs, conducted Independently of CNS

Reliability:  Correlation coefficients for CNS Vital Signs tests (Gualtieri & Johnson, 2006)

Memory 0.726Psychomotor speed 0.869

Reaction time 0.795Cognitive flexibility 0.744Complex attention 0.645

Verbal memory, total correct 0.611Visual memory, total correct 0.668

Immediate memory, total correct 0.667Delayed memory, total correct 0.625

Finger tapping, right 0.804Finger tapping, left 0.776Finger tapping, total 0.831

Symbol digit coding, correct 0.840Symbol digit coding, errors 0.623Stroop, simple reaction time 0.569Stroop, complex reaction time 0.554Stroop color‐word reaction time 0.868

Stroop Test, errors 0.314Shifting attention, correct 0.773Shifting attention, errors 0.697

Shifting attention, reaction time 0.803Shifting attention, efficiency 0.694

Continuous performance, correct 0.452aContinuous performance, errors 0.565a

Continuous performance, Reaction time 0.874

N=99 (40 normal, 59 neuropsychiatric patients clinically stable on the same medications for 2 consecutive visits.  

The subjects took the battery on two different days. On average they took the battery 62 days apart.  

The interval ranged from 1 to 282 days with a median interval of 27 days.   

Conclusion:  The psychometric characteristics of this test are similar to those of the conventional tests upon which they are based.  BUT this is not a substitute for neuropsychological testing, it is not diagnostic, and it will 

have only limited role in the medical setting, absent the active participation of consulting neuropsychologists. 

(Gualtieri & Johnson, 2006)

To Summarize: 1. Memory tests: .611 to .726 2. Psychomotor speed (finger tapping tests): .776-.8693. Reaction Time (Stroop) ranged from .554-.7954. Cognitive flexibility, Shifting Attention Test (SAT) : .694-.7445. Sustained Attention (CP) .452-.5656. Complex attention (CPT, SAT & Stroop): .314-.874

Summarizing Reliability:Correlation coefficients CNS VS(Gualtieri & Johnson, 2006)

• N=31 healthy college graduate adults completed select subtests of CNS VS and re-tested 30 days later.

• Intraclass correlation coefficient estimates from baseline to retest ranged from .63 to .88 on the CNSVS domain scores.

• Each participant also completed Green's Medical Symptom ValidityTest and the Reliable Digit Span to evaluate effort

• All participants demonstrated adequate levels of effort according to Medical Symptom Validity Test and Reliable Digit Span interpretive guidelines.

• This data demonstrated moderate to good test–retest reliability in a nonclinical sample performing with sufficient effort, especiallywhen compared to the test–retest reliability of other computerized neuropsychological assessment programs using pragmatic time intervals.

Non‐clinical sample, Independent investigator, Test‐retest reliability and effort.(Jones, 2012).

Baseline to day 45 assessments ranged from • .15 to .39 ImPACT• .23 to .65 on the Concussion Sentinel• .15 to .66 on the Concussion Resolution

Index. The intraclass correlation coefficient estimates

from the day 45 to day 50 assessments ranged from

• .39 to .61 on the ImPACT• .39 to .66 on the Concussion Sentinel• .03 to .66 on the Concussion Resolution

Index. • All participants demonstrated high levels of

effort on all days of testing, according to Memory and Concentration Test interpretive guidelines.

n=118 healthy student volunteers.

Tested:  Baseline, Day 45, Day 50.  

Conclusion:  These programs show low to moderate test‐retest correlation coefficients. 

Test‐Retest Reliability of Other Computerized concussion tests(Broglio, et al, 2007)

Concussion Vital Signs Psychometrics:Validity (Gualtieri & Johnson, 2006)

Peer Reviewed Psychometric Standards:Test Retest Reliability: used n=99 took the battery separated by on average 62 days. Results comparable to those achieved by equivalent conventional and computerized tests. (Results noted on earlier slide).

Concurrent Validity: n=180 subjects, normals and neuropsychiatric patients; n-141 with neuropsychiatric disorders 36 normals. Ages 10-85, mean age 34.8. mild cognitive impairment, early dementia, post-concussive syndrome, severe traumatic brain injury, child and adolescent ADHD (treated & untreated) & depression (treated & untreated).

Discriminant Validity: n=187, Dementia, Severe TBI, Mild MR, Conversion disorder, Malingers. Also compared those with real cognitive impairment with those whose problems are exaggerated for psy. reasons. The test was sensitive to malingers & patients with conversion disorders. Matched on age, race and gender of randomly selected subjects from the norms.

Archives Clinical Neuropsychology September 30 , 2006

NEUROCOGNITION INDEX

100 98

82

66

47

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

NML MBI PCS TBI-1 TBI-2

Source:  CNS Vital Signs:  A Computerized Test Battery Sensitive to Mild and Severe Brain Injury; C Thomas Gualtieri MD, Lynda G Johnson PhD; Medscape J Med. 2008; 10(4): 90.

Computerized tests like CNS Vital Signs allow clinicians the advantage of precise neurocognitive measurement in the service of evaluation, management, and appropriate treatment. CNT’s are never going to replace the flexibility or comprehensiveness of conventional neuropsychological testing, but they have a role to play in circumstances where a full test battery is not feasible, 

such as patient in‐take (Neurobehavioral Status Exam 96116) and serial assessment.

Concurrent Validity for CNS for MBI Impairment..Vs Normal, Post concussive syndrome, TBI, Severe TBI

CNS Neurocognition Index Concurrent Validity MBI…

Competitor: Validity & Reliability

Much of the published literature is on ImPACT. ImPACT’s test–retest reliability is the weakest of all the CNTs, with many of its domains below the 0.6 level considered significant for clinical decision making. CNS Vital Signs has excellent test–retest reliability and validity, sensitivity and specificity, change score, and clinical utility.

RECOMMENDATION:If baseline CNT is used, it subsequently should be done on a yearly basis in high school athletes and every 2 years for college athletes depending on the CNT in use.

Computerized Neuropsychological Testing in the Management of Sports‐Related Concussions; Athletic Training & Sports Health Care | Vol. 4 No. 1 2012

ADHD has a huge impact upon learning.CNS Vital signs successfully differentiated

ADHD children from non-ADHD kids. N=50 Diagnosed ADHD children (co-

morbidity excluded), Rx-free during tests, Ages 7 to 18. n=50 non-ADHD kids from the CNS Vital Signs normative database.

CNS Vital Signs,  ADHD & Learning

TESTS DIFFERENTIATING ADHD FROM NORMALS: 

Memory (d=.45) Psychomotor Speed (d=.48)Cognitive Flexibility (d=.8)Complex Reaction time (d=.97).  

“Concerns of memory impairment are common after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Acute effects after mTBI may include posttraumatic amnesia, which may last up to 24 hours. In the postacute phase, memory concerns are usually linked with increased distractibility; impaired attention, working memory, retrieval; and executive dysfunction. “ (Flynn, 2010).

How might a concussion affect learning?  

Distractibility, attention, working memory  and executive functioning all have substantial impact upon learning. 

Working memory, both storing and manipulating information, has been linked to academic achievement from preschoolers to college students (Gathercole, Brown & Pickering, 2000; Alloway et al, 2005; Gathercole & Pickering, 2000; Jarvis & Gathercole, 2003; St. Clair Thompson & Gathercole, 2006; Daneman & Carpenter, 1990; Gathercole, et al. 2003; Gathercole, et al in 2005).

Why does the frontal lobe matter? If learning matters, the frontal lobe matters…

Young people have a lifetime of learning left. We’d like to know how it will be affected.  

Why better validity/reliability in CNS VS?Test Design:  Using established tests. 

Now, you know you have a tool that works. Wouldn’t you like a SYSTEM THAT WORKS?Competitors lack a System…& Access…

Learning is a lifetime endeavor. Concussion test norms should reflect that.Age 7 to over 90 does it.

Youth Friendly Administration: FLEXIBLE Testing Order.

Most youth athletes won’t give a great health history. We don’t make them do it before taking the test. 

Arguably, ImPact Normed with Pros in mind. 

Can’t administer just the symptom scale alone…

To have a valid test you must re-administer the history and symptom scales…

Lowest norms age 13.

They sell to pro teams.

Pros often want to play regardless of risk given the huge incentives…

Concussion Vital Signs-Components of a complete system.

Competitors Lack a complete System (e. g. a sideline app, easy clinician access, etc.)

Test overview and orientation (www.concussionvitalsigns.com): 

CVS Registration

After registering look for the confirmation email.  

Click within 24 hours to activate.  

If you don’t act within 24 hours, call 800‐249‐0659, #7 to activate your subscription. 

Check your spam folder if you don’t get it.

NOTE:  You do not pay before you start testing nor do you pay with a credit card. You will be billed in about a week with an email.   

Resources section:  How‐to‐Begin/Register, p. 3

CVS Registration:Form completion

Provide your own username and password as an administrator.

Separate username and password for ATHLETE TESTING.  

All athletes will login with this username and password.  

NOTE:  Your confirmation email will not include your administrator password so record it. 

CVS Athlete Testing

www.concussiovitalsigns.com

After you click “athlete testing”This window will pop up: 

All Athletes will use the same user name and Password that you provided!

Important:  Athlete Reference/ID

Important: What distinguishes an Athlete’s test is this Athlete Reference/ID

You or your policies will determine how to generate Athlete Reference IDs & you will communicate this to your athletes.  Example:  CS012774 (Initials, DOB‐ddmmyy) 

Next Confirm: Athlete Reference/ID

Identify

Type of assessment,

Supervision,

Testing Environment.

Take the test!

• Computers with internet access. • Time: 30-40 minutes. • Rested, Unhurried athletes. • Use a Setting with limited distractions.• Use Similar settings across administrations.

Set the frame clearly for athletes:

“Your Brain is Your Life. Take this seriously.”• Do not distract each other. • If you don’t listen to the instructions your report will be invalid. • You will take it again until it is valid. • Until your test is valid you don’t practice for your sport….

Note to those administering the test: Take it yourself a few times so you will know how to orient athletes to the test. Also, read: Resources:  Test Administration Guide. 

Conditions that create highly valid test results:

Athlete History Can come later by athletes or parents.

Administrative Login: Reviewing Athletes Reports

Remember:

You created your admin user and password at

registration.

You will not get your admin password in the

email so remember it or write it down!

After Admin Login The Account folder is presented. 

This folder will allow for report viewing, log of account activity, viewing history, provide for the development of rosters…

From here you can also enable and edit the account's profile, set up rosters, retire athletic records, and an athlete’s demography.   

Administrative FeaturesDefault Assessments in last 60 days.

Admin FeaturesQuick Search with Partial Name

Cool Admin Feature: Search All Invalid Tests in last X days.

Cool Report Feature: Which subtest was invalid?

This Example:

NCI, CPT & Choice Reaction Time All Invalid!

Baseline Testing:

Quick Scan of Validity Indicators Tells you why.

Other testsNot as efficient.

Determining ImPACT test Invalidity• A sentence in Red font will state that the test is invalid, but it will not identify which individual test is invalid. You can do 

manual calculations…• Here are descriptions of how to do manual calculations.• The cutoffs represent scores that fall below two standard deviations for the adult population. • These scores should be used as general guidelines. If you obtain a questionable score, we suggest that you discuss with the 

athlete to determine if there are other potential reasons for the scores.

• Suspect invalidity if:  

• Word memory Learning is below 69• Design memory learning is below 50• X’s and O’s Total Incorrect Interference greater than 30• Symbol Match Ave Correct RT greater than 1.75• Color Match Total Correct < 7• Three Letters Total correct less than 9 or Avg correctly counted less than 10• (if a 0 score is obtained the profile is invalid because the athlete clicked the number is forward order) • Impulse Control Composite Score >30

• NOTE: Different tests have different cutoff numbers. 

Many Athletic trainers don’t check test validity. 

•1209 U. S. institutions listed on the Impact web site were recruited and 399 AT’s responded to a survey. •51.9% AT’s examined the test for validity!  If you do puts you in top 8%!•88.4% reported that they administer CNT’s to football players•78.8% administer CNT’s to women’s soccer players•71.2% administer CNT’s to men’s soccer players•95.5% stated that they would not return a symptomatic athlete to play if the athlete’s neurocognitive scores were back to baseline.•86.5% stated that they not return a symptom free athlete whose scores were below baseline to play. 

•9.8% responded yes they would return such an athlete.•3.8% said it depended upon the importance of the competition. •ATs in this study reported that they relied more on symptoms than neurocognitive test scores when deciding return-to-play .

Of athletic trainers using CNT for baseline testing how many check the tests to be sure they are valid?(Covassin, et al, 2009)

Concussion Vital Signs test report: Making checking validity easy. 

Reviewing post‐injury reports.After validity, back to baseline?

See this example in resources : 1st

post injury report, p. 1

“1st Post Injury report”. 

1st ?: Is it valid?

2nd ?: Is he back to baseline? 

Reviewing post‐injury reportsGraphic clarity. 

See this example in resources : 1st

post injury report, p. 2.

Quick scan tells you how far the athlete is from baseline. 

Reviewing 2nd post‐injury reportGraphic clarity. 

See this example in resources : “2nd Post Injury report”, p. 2. 

Is he back to baseline? 

Again, quick scan tells you how far the athlete is from baseline. 

Scat2 Sideline App:Automatically accessed with smart devices. 

Data goes directly to same URL as baseline and follow up tests. 

Components of SCAT2:

http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/43/Suppl_1/i89.full.pdf

Concussion Evaluation: SCAT2

Standardized Assessment of Concussion: SAC

Immediate Memory

Concentration

Continuity of care made easy:Clinician’s Portal.

Additional Clinical Training not required. 

How might you recover from poorer sustained attention? 

Cogmed Working Memory Training has been shown to improve working memory and attention in over 25 peer‐reviewed published studies. 

www.cogmed.com

Concussion Vital Signs: Resources

Go to www.concussionvitalsigns.com for more information and to try out the test for free (see ‘demo’ tab)

Resources tab: pdf’s on the right for your info. 

Publications tab: Over 90 references that have used Concussion Vital Signs in their studies.