Neuropsychological Assessment of Concussion in Collegiate Student-Athletes

Due to the importance of neuropsychological assessment in the sports concussion management process, the purpose of this study was to investigate a newer assessment (C3Logix), comparing it to the well-established ImPACT concussion system. Additionally, this investigation contributed to the limited literature regarding concussion recovery in young adults, with a focus on sex differences in the recovery process. Both baseline and post-injury assessment data (i.e., C3Logix and ImPACT) were utilized from young adult student-athletes (n = 42) attending a large, southern university who experienced a concussion over the course of one academic year. Results indicated acceptable convergent validity between C3Logix and ImPACT. Across the assessment systems, there were correlations between measures of symptom severity, memory, visual motor speed, reaction time, and processing speed. Impulse Control (ImPACT) and Visual Acuity (C3Logix) demonstrated little to no association with any other domains. A significant multivariate effect was revealed for sex on performance at baseline for C3Logix and ImPACT, with female athletes performing better than males on C3Logix SAC, Trails A, Trails B, and Processing Speed modules, and the ImPACT Verbal Memory and Visual Motor Speed composites. It was hypothesized that female athletes would report more symptoms on the graded symptom checklists, yet surprisingly there were no significant differences in symptom severity scores between the sexes. Finally, the initial injury Symptom Severity score on C3Logix and the athlete’s sex significantly predicted the number of follow-up assessments completed during recovery