Posts by Alexis Vacher

Learn how an athlete’s sport position and neurocognitive test scores may be correlated.

Review the importance of real-time symptom reporting to help clinicians make concussion management decisions.

Learn the tools that are most robust at discriminating athletes with concussions in the acute / early subacute phases of injury.

Learn about the role of motor control evaluation in concussion diagnosis and treatment.

Learn about varying sleep patterns and associated symptoms in patients with multiple concussions.

Objective This study examined outcomes from the King Devick (K-D) in athletes with Learning Disabilities (LD) and attention disorders (ADHD). Methods A total of 574 professional football players from the Canadian Football League (CFL) completed baseline evaluations with computerized neurocognitive testing (CNT) prior to the 2016 competitive season. Player age, education, history of concussion, LD, and ADHD were analyzed for K-D and Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) performance. A series of analyses of co-variance (ANCOVA’s) were used to compare participants with a history of LD and ADHD with history of concussion as a co-variate. Results Approximately 5% of participants reported a diagnosed history of LD and 13% with ADHD. Performance on the K-D test was not significantly correlated with age, education, or history of concussion but was significantly correlated with history of LD and ADHD. Participants with LD performed approximately 6.9 s slower on the K-D test (t[563] = 4.70, p. = 0.0003) and participants with ADHD were approximately 2 s slower (t[572] = 2.04, p. = 0.04). Conclusions Results indicated that players with a history of diagnosed LD and ADHD performed slower on the K-D test in comparison to athletes with no history of diagnoses. The results of this study underscore the importance of recognizing individualized outcomes when using the K-D.