Utility of the ImPACT test with deaf adolescents

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Sports Medicine
• Audiology

Background:

• The Immediate and Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) is widely used for baseline assessment of student-athletes.
• No prior studies have examined the utility of ImPACT with adolescents who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically examine the utility of the ImPACT test with adolescents who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
• To investigate baseline performance patterns in deaf and hard-of-hearing student-athletes using ImPACT.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective review of de-identified ImPACT baseline tests was conducted.
• The study included 143 deaf and hard-of-hearing high-school student-athletes (66% male, mean age 16.11).

Main Results:

• Significant differences were observed in some ImPACT composite scores between deaf/hard-of-hearing athletes and hearing normative comparisons.
• A potential marker for task misunderstanding occurred more frequently in the deaf/hard-of-hearing sample (13%) compared to the hearing sample (0.31%).

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest ImPACT may yield different results in deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents compared to hearing peers.
• Additional measures to ensure task comprehension are recommended when using ImPACT with this population.