A five year comparative analysis of annual baseline neurocognitive test scores for South African high school athletes
- Authors: Reichling, Marcelle Antoinette
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: High school athletes -- Intelligence testing , Sports -- Psychological aspects , Neuropsychological tests , Brain -- Wounds and injuries -- Psychology , Sports injuries -- Psychological aspects , Brain -- Concussion , Head -- Wounds and injuries
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145863 , vital:38473
- Description: The primary objective of this study was to assess the pattern of change in neurocognitive performance for adolescent athletes on baseline measures of the Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) test, over five consecutive years, with a view to providing an indication of the optimal interval for repeat baseline testing of high school athletes. Participants were non-clinical, predominantly South African high school athletes in the overall age range 13 to 18 years (N = 108), divided into five groups (Grades 8,9, 10, 11 and 12), and tested at five test intervals. Repeated-measures ANOVA analyses examined differences in score performance across the test intervals for each of the five composite scores of the ImPACT test (Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed, Reaction Time, Impulse Control). For the Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed and Reaction Time composites there were significant neurocognitive score changes between several test intervals. Taking these results into account, in conjunction with substantial variability in performance, it is concluded that there is a need for annual baseline testing throughout the high school years. The secondary objective was to generate normative tables (Means and Standard Deviations) on the ImPACT test for the five participant groups at each of the five test intervals, including data for: the five composite scores (Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor Speed, Reaction Time, Impulse Control); for the twelve subtest scores test that go to make up the composite scores; and for four additional memory subcomponent scores (Word Memory immediate recall, Word Memory delayed recall, Design Memory immediate recall, Design Memory delayed recall). The results provide a clinical and heuristic normative platform for future use with brain injured individuals, which can be used to facilitate clinical interpretations of postconcussion assessments.
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Cumulative mild head injury in contact sport: a comparison of the cognitive profiles of rugby players and non-contact sport controls with normative data
- Authors: Bold, Lisa Clare
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Head -- Wounds and injuries -- Psychology , Neuropsychological tests , Head -- Wounds and injuries , Sports injuries -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2935 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002444 , Head -- Wounds and injuries -- Psychology , Neuropsychological tests , Head -- Wounds and injuries , Sports injuries -- Psychological aspects
- Description: This study investigates the effects of cumulative mild head injury on the cognitive functioning of elite rugby players. A comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to top national (Springbok) rugby players (n=26), national Under 21 rugby players (n= 19), and a non-contact sport control group of national hockey players (n=21). The test results of the Total Rugby group (Springbok Rugby and Under 21 Rugby players), the Under 21 Rugby group, the hockey controls, and the Total Rugby and Under 21 Rugby forward and backline players respectively, were each compared with established normative data. Results showed significant differences in the direction of a poorer performance relative to the norms for the Total Rugby and Under 21 Rugby groups, and for the Total Rugby Forwards and Under 21 Rugby Forwards, on tests sensitive to the effects of diffuse brain damage. On the other hand, the Hockey Control group and the Total Rugby Backs and Under 21 Rugby Backs tended to perform within the normal range or better than the norm on some tests. These results confirm the hypothesis that rugby players, and the forward players in particular, are at risk of adverse cognitive effects consequent on cumulative mild head injury. The theoretical implications are that the aggregate effects of multiple exposures to mild head injuries in the rugby players served to reduce their brain reserve capacities and acted as a threshold-lowering influence associated with symptom onset.
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Cumulative mild head injury in rugby: cognitive test profiles of professional rugby and cricket players
- Authors: Ancer, Ruth Lauren
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Head -- Wounds and injuries , Rugby football injuries , Cricket injuries , Cognitive therapy , Neuropsychological tests
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2925 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002434 , Head -- Wounds and injuries , Rugby football injuries , Cricket injuries , Cognitive therapy , Neuropsychological tests
- Description: This study investigates the effects of cumulative concussive and subconcussive mild head injury on the cognitive functioning of professional rugby players. A comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to 26 professional rugby players and a noncontact sport control group of 21 professional cricket players. The test performances of the rugby players were compared to those of the cricket players. Within the rugby group, forward and backline players were compared. An analysis of mean score differences between the rugby and cricket group failed to support the presence of brain damage effects in the rugby group. However, there was significantly increased variability of scores for the rugby players compared with the cricket players on tests particularly sensitive to cognitive deficit associated with mild head injury. This invalidates the null indications of average effects, indicating that a notable proportion of rugby players’ performances were falling off relative to the rest of the rugby players on tests vulnerable to the cognitive effects of diffuse brain damage. Mean score comparisons within the rugby group indicated that it was the subgroup of forward players, in particular, whose test performances revealed deficits suggestive of cerebral damage. Specifically, deficits were found in working memory, visuoperceptual tracking, verbal memory and visual memory, a pattern of deficits commensurate with cumulative mild head injury. The theoretical perspectives of Satz’s (1997) Brain Reserve Capacity Theory and Jordan’s (1997) ‘Shuttle’ model of variability are drawn upon in order to elucidate research findings and suggestions for future research are provided.
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