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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: This study examined neurocognitive performance and symptoms between concussed Black and White collegiate athletes at baseline, post-injury, and change from baseline to post-injury.
METHOD: The Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT) was used to measure neurocognitive performance and four concussion symptom clusters for 235 concussed collegiate athletes. Between-groups differences were documented at baseline and post-injury, along with change in scores for sex/race, and sport/race groups, using ANOVAs. Baseline scores, and days-to-post-test were covariates in post-injury comparisons. Symptom endorsement by race was evaluated using chi-square analyses.
RESULTS: At baseline, group comparisons by race and sex showed that Black male/female athletes scored lower on reaction time (RT; p =.008), White females scored higher on verbal memory (VerbMem; p =.001), Black females scored lower on visual motor processing speed (VMS; p =.001), and Black football athletes scored slower/poorer on RT (p =.001) and VMS (p =.006). Post-injury, Black males scored lower on visual memory (VisMem; p =.005) and VMS (p =.002), and Black football athletes scored slower on VMS (p =.005), whereas White non-football athletes scored higher on VerbMem (p =.002) and reported fewer symptoms. Significant time-by-sport/race interactions were found for VerbMem (p <.001), VisMem (p <.001) and reported symptoms. With respect to post-injury symptom scores/endorsement, Black athletes scored significantly higher for physical (p =.01) and sleep (p =.01) symptoms.
CONCLUSION: These findings drive the conversation of how subjective measures of symptoms, and objective clinical concussion measures, may relate to the concussion recovery process and providing a culturally competent clinical management approach for diverse patients.
Language: en |