STATIC AND DYNAMIC POSTURAL CONTROL DEFICITS IN PATIENTS WITH A HISTORY OF CONCUSSION

Concussion has been linked to an increased risk of lower extremity injury. It is hypothesized that residual postural control deficits due to delays in central processing speed or sensory reweighting are responsible for the increased risk. The purpose of this study was to evaluate dynamic and static postural control using laboratory measures to evaluate sub-clinical deficits that exist past the acute phase of concussion recovery. Time to boundary (TTB), time to stabilization (TTS), and gait initiation (GI) were evaluated in 10 subjects with a concussion history and 10 healthy controls. TTB was nearly 10 times shorter in the medial/lateral plane under the eyes open and closed criterion and TTS was significantly greater in the medial/lateral and anterior/posterior planes in concussion subjects while gait initiation did not differ between groups. These results suggest that postural control remains compromised past acute concussion and must be addressed in future return to activity standards.Master of Art