TY - JOUR PY - 2020// TI - Balance markers and saccadic eye-movement measures in adolescents with postconcussion syndrome JO - Journal of athletic training A1 - Rochefort, Coralie A1 - Legace, Elizabeth A1 - Boulay, Chadwick A1 - Macartney, Gail A1 - Goulet, Kristian A1 - Zemek, Roger A1 - Sveistrup, Heidi SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - CONTEXT: Deficits in both balance and oculomotor function, including impairments in saccadic eye movements, are observed in approximately 30% of patients postconcussion. Whereas balance and saccadic eye movements are routinely assessed separately, growing evidence suggests that they should be assessed concurrently.

OBJECTIVE: To compare balance measures and saccades between adolescents 1 to 3 months postconcussion and healthy uninjured adolescents.

DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: Concussion clinic and 2 private schools. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-five adolescents (10 boys, 15 girls; median [interquartile range (IQR)] age = 14 years [11.5-16 years]) between 1 and 3 months postconcussion (median [IQR] time since injury = 39.5 days [30-56.75 days]) and 33 uninjured adolescents (18 boys, 15 girls; median [IQR] age = 13 years [11.5-14 years]). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The center-of-pressure 95% ellipse area and medial-lateral and anterior-posterior velocity and the number of saccades in the dual-task balance conditions including a high cognitive load (cognitive condition), a low cognitive load and a gaze-shifting component (visual condition), or both a high cognitive load and a gaze-shifting component (combined condition).

RESULTS: Concussion-group participants swayed over larger center-of-pressure ellipse areas in the visual (P =.02; effect size = 0.73) and combined (P =.005; effect size = 0.86) conditions but not in the cognitive condition (P =.07; effect size = 0.50). No group differences were identified for anterior-posterior (F1,56 = 2.57, P =.12) or medial-lateral (F1,56 = 0.157, P =.69) velocity. Concussion-group participants also did not perform more saccades than the control-group participants (F1,56 = 2.04, P =.16).

CONCLUSIONS: Performing dual-task balance conditions for which the secondary task involves a gaze-shifting component or both a gaze-shifting component and a high cognitive load resulted in greater sway amplitude in adolescents with concussion. However, these larger amounts of postural sway were not associated with increased saccadic eye movements.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1062-6050 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-548-18 ID - ref1 ER -