BI-lateral Lower Extremity Muscle Weakness as an Objective Measure to Assist in Determination of Athlete Readiness to Return to Sports Following Concussion

Overview

Residual muscle weakness can be a common objective finding following a concussion, or mild Traumatic Brain Injury (m TBI). Evaluation of this functioning may help determine when an athlete is ready to return to all their normal activities. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of bilateral hip musculature weakness in concussed student athletes and if this finding is common, could it be used as a quantitative test to determine an athlete’s readiness for returning to full activity in their sport. If hip weakness is common in concussions, monitoring this could become an effective way to determine whether or not an individual (or athlete) is back to their pre-concussion baseline. Awareness of this weakness and monitoring recovery would lower risks for secondary injuries. Participants completed a questionnaire detailing their concussion history and were evaluated using a visual screening assessment, two strength tests, and fine motor control tests designed to examine correlations between concussion and muscle weakness or motor neuron control difficulties. The results demonstrated that of the participants without previous concussion history in both contact and non-contact sport types, around 12% experienced weakness in one or both of the strength tests. Additionally, the results demonstrated that over 75% of individuals with concussion history experienced weakness in one of the strength tests. The application of this testing into concussion diagnostic testing, as well as developing a recovery protocol, has the potential to more quantitatively diagnose and accurately determine when an athlete is truly ready to return to sports following concussion.

Competition history

• JSHS 2022 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.