Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 28, 2025
Revised and Neuroimaging-Compatible Versions of the Dual Task Screen
Published on: October 5, 2020
Military-Specific Normative Data for Cognitive and Motor Single- and Dual-Task Assessments for Use in Mild Traumatic
Morgan K McGrath1, Susan M Linder1, Mandy Miller Koop1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195.
Introduction:
Military personnel and civilian athletes are both at risk for mild traumatic brain injury. However, these groups are unique in their training and typical daily activities. A fundamental gap in the evaluation of military personnel following mild traumatic brain injury is the lack of military-specific normative reference data. This project aimed to determine if a separate normative sample should be used for military personnel on their performance of the Cleveland Clinic Concussion application and a recently developed dual-task module.
Methods:
Data were collected from healthy military personnel (n = 305) and civilians (n = 281) 18 to 30 years of age. Participants completed the following assessments: simple and choice reaction time, Trail Making tests A&B, processing speed test, single-task postural stability, single-task cognitive assessment, and dual-task assessment.
Results:
Civilian participants outperformed military service members on all cognitive tasks under single- and dual-task conditions (P ≤ 0.04). The military group outperformed civilians on all postural stability tasks under single- and dual-task conditions (P ≤ 0.01).
Conclusion:
Differences in cognitive performance and postural stability measures may be influenced by demographic differences between military and civilian cohorts. Thus, military-specific normative datasets must be established to optimize clinical interpretation of Cleveland Clinic Concussion assessments.
