Reliability of the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5 baseline testing: A 2-week test-retest study

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Neurology
• Clinical Assessment

Background:

• Concussion assessment tools are crucial for diagnosing and managing mild traumatic brain injuries in athletes.
• The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5 (SCAT5) is widely used for sideline concussion evaluation.
• Understanding the short-term reliability of SCAT5 baseline measures is essential for accurate injury detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the short-term test-retest reliability of the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5 (SCAT5) in professional male ice hockey players.
• To identify potential variability in SCAT5 components during a two-week interval in an uninjured cohort.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal study design was employed with 62 professional male ice hockey players.
• Participants completed the SCAT5 twice within a two-week period during the preseason.
• Spearman's correlations and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to analyze reliability and differences between test sessions.

Main Results:

• Symptom reporting demonstrated high test-retest reliability (rs=0.85 for score, rs=0.84 for severity).
• The Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC) and the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) showed considerably lower reliability (rs=0.58 and rs=0.40, respectively).
• Significant individual variability was observed in SAC and BESS scores, with over half of athletes reporting symptoms at baseline.

Conclusions:

• The SCAT5 exhibits moderate to high test-retest reliability for symptom reporting over a two-week period.
• Individual variability in SAC and BESS scores suggests potential challenges in interpreting short-term performance changes, even in uninjured athletes.
• Recommendations for interpreting SCAT5 score changes are provided to account for this variability.