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Abstract
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CONTEXT: Dynamic balance during functional movement may provide important clinical information after concussion. The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool version 3 (SCAT3) includes a timed tandem-gait test (heel-to-toe walking) administered with a pass-fail scoring system. Minimal evidence supports inclusion of the tandem-gait test in the SCAT3, especially in high school athletes.
OBJECTIVE: To determine (1) the percentage of healthy high school athletes who passed (best trial ≤14 seconds) the tandem-gait test at baseline, (2) the association between sex and test performance (pass versus fail), and (3) the relationship among sex, age, height, and tandem-gait test score.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. Setting High school sports medicine center. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred athletes from 4 high schools (age = 15.8 ± 1.2 years, height = 170.3 ± 10.3 cm, weight = 64.8 ± 14.5 kg). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Healthy participants completed 4 trials of the SCAT3 tandem gait test and a demographic questionnaire. Outcome measures were passing rate at baseline on the tandem-gait test and tandem-gait test score (time).
RESULTS: Overall, 24.5% (49/200) of participants passed the test. sex and performance were an associated(χ2 = 15.15, P <.001), with a passing rate of 38.6% (32/83) for males and 14.5% (17/117) for females. The regression model including predictor variables of sex and height, with the outcome variable of tandem-gait test score and time, was significant (R2 = 0.20, P <.01).
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the tandem-gait test had a high false-positive rate in high school athletes. Given that more than 75% of healthy participants failed the tandem-gait test, the 14-second cutoff appears to have limited clinical utility in the adolescent population. Functional movement deficits after concussion need to be accounted for, but the 14-second cutoff for the SCAT3 tandem gait test does not appear to be an ideal way to assess these deficits in high school athletes.
Keywords: American football
Language: en |