The revised dual task screen: analysis of dual task motor and cognitive costs in healthy, young adult athletes
Date
2021
Authors
Giessler Gonzalez, Kalena, author
Stephens, Jaclyn A., advisor
Davies, Patricia L., committee member
Tracy, Brian L., committee member
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Volume Title
Abstract
Premature return-to-play clearance can put an athlete with sports-related concussion (SRC) at risk for further injury, making proper diagnosis and management of SRC in athletes crucial. However, objective measures that are currently used in SRC management have limitations, including poor test-retest reliability, reliance on baseline testing, and insufficient difficulty for high-performing athletes. More complex tasks, including dual task measures (i.e. simultaneous motor and cognitive task performance) can detect subtle, residual deficits in athletes with SRC. While dual tasks have been shown to have potential benefit for SRC management, many dual task paradigms are limited by high cost, long administration times, and low portability. Thus, we developed the revised Dual Task Screen (DTS), a measure designed to be completed and scored in fewer than 10 minutes using only portable, low-cost instruments. The revised DTS is comprised of two subtasks: a Lower Extremity (LE) subtask and an Upper Extremity (UE) subtask. This study evaluates if the revised DTS was sensitive to dual task motor and cognitive costs (i.e. significantly poorer performance on dual trials compared to single trials) in 22 healthy, young adult athletes. We observed statistically significant dual task motor costs for the primary and secondary motor outcome measures on the LE subtask, as well as the outcome measure on the UE subtask. While the revised DTS elicited numerical dual task cognitive costs on the LE outcome measure and UE outcome measure, only the UE subtask elicited performance differences that were statistically significant. The results from our study indicate that the revised DTS is a promising and clinically feasible measure for use in SRC management.
Description
Rights Access
Subject
concussion assessment
mild traumatic brain injury
sports-related concussion
dual task
concussion
return to play