Military-Specific Normative Data for Cognitive and Motor Single- A nd Dual-Task Assessments for Use in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Assessment

Abstract

Introduction: Military personnel and civilian athletes are both at risk for mild traumatic brain injury. However, these groups are unique in their training and typical daily activities. A fundamental gap in the evaluation of military personnel following mild traumatic brain injury is the lack of military-specific normative reference data. This project aimed to determine if a separate normative sample should be used for military personnel on their performance of the Cleveland Clinic Concussion application and a recently developed dual-task module. Methods: Data were collected from healthy military personnel (n = 305) and civilians (n = 281) 18 to 30 years of age. Participants completed the following assessments: Simple and choice reaction time, Trail Making tests A&B, processing speed test, single-task postural stability, single-task cognitive assessment, and dual-task assessment. Results: Civilian participants outperformed military service members on all cognitive tasks under single- A nd dual-task conditions (P ≤ 0.04). The military group outperformed civilians on all postural stability tasks under single- A nd dual-task conditions (P ≤ 0.01). Conclusion: Differences in cognitive performance and postural stability measures may be influenced by demographic differences between military and civilian cohorts. Thus, military-specific normative datasets must be established to optimize clinical interpretation of Cleveland Clinic Concussion assessments.