Collegiate club-sport athletes participate in a variety of competitive sports and have been understudied in the concussion literature. Baseline performance measures are warranted to better understand assessment and management.
To quantify normative values and modifying factor effects of sex, concussion history, diagnosed attention disabilities (ADHD), and sport-type on baseline symptom evaluation among collegiate club-sport athletes.
Cross-sectional study.
Retrospective chart review
1034 collegiate club-sport athletes (N=649 male, 62.7%) from 29 different sports at a single institution.
Chart reviews were completed for club-sport athletes who completed athlete background and symptom evaluation on the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool – 5th edition (SCAT5) as baseline concussion assessment during a single academic year. Demographics (e.g., age, sex, sport), background medical information (e.g., concussion history, ADHD, etc.) and symptom evaluation, consisting of individual 22-item symptom reporting, total number of symptoms (TS), symptom severity (SS) scores, and symptom-factors (e.g., physical, cognitive, insomnia, and emotional) were analyzed.
68% of club-sport athletes were asymptomatic on baseline symptom reporting, with 3–12% reporting mild symptoms and ≤4% reporting moderate and severe symptoms. Modifier groups differed with higher TS and SS in females (p<.001), individuals reporting a history of concussion (p<.001), and those with ADHD (TS p=.04, SS p =.02). Similar significant findings were noted for females and the history of concussion group on all 4 symptom-factors, however collision/contact sports also reported greater cognitive (p=.03) and insomnia (p=.02) factors. Those with ADHD reported higher cognitive (p<.001) factors.
Normative symptoms were produced for a collegiate club-sport sample, revealing ~70% asymptomatic reporting. Higher TS and SS scores were reported by females and those with a history of concussion. Cognitive-specific symptoms were greater in those diagnosed with ADHD and who participated in collision/contact sports.
Author notes
Ryan N. Moran, Assistant Professor & Director of Athletic Training Research Laboratory, The University of Alabama, rnmoran@ua.edu
J. Russell Guin, Assistant Professor & Director of Family Medicine Residency Program, The University of Alabama, jrguin@ua.edu
Melanie Louis, Undergraduate Research Assistant, The University of Alabama, mrlouis@crimson.ua.edu
Kali Rhodes, Undergraduate Research Assistant, The University of Alabama, kcrhodes@crimson.ua.edu
