Normative values of the Rey Word Recognition Test in college athletes

Improved detection of sport-related concussions can be enhanced by performance validity tests, such as the Rey Word Recognition Test (WRT). The WRT is brief and in the public domain but no norms exist for healthy college-athletes. The present study identified such normative values in a large college-athlete sample. Participants included 1,147 college-athletes, and four measures were collected: total words correct, words correct of the first 8, total number of intrusions, and combination score. The WRT was administered individually during baseline evaluations. Means and standard deviations were as follows: total correct words recognized, 10.47 (SD = 2.12); number of correct words out of the first eight words presented, 6.01 (SD = 1.41); number of intrusions, 0.89 (SD = 1.09); combination score, 15.59 (SD = 3.55). Females scored significantly higher than males in total words correct, number correct of the first eight, and combination score, and significantly lower in intrusions. The WRT proved to be a quick, easily administer test in the baseline testing setting. Only 22 athletes recognized all 15 words, and close to a normal distribution of scores was obtained, suggesting that an expectation of optimum performance by college-athletes as an inference of effortful performance would be misplaced.