The consideration of post-exercise impact on SCAT3 scores in athletes immediately following a head injury

Abstract

Examine effects of high-intensity exercise and physical impacts during rugby match on self-report symptoms in The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT3), and its ability to differentiate head-injured players from controls. Methods: Symptoms were assessed immediately following completion of a rugby match (median 60 minutes). Players removed from the match for assessment due to a head hit were classified as head injured. Controls completed match without head hit. Results: 209 players (67 female; 33 ± 13 years) participated with 80 experiencing a head injury. Symptom severity was significantly greater in head injured (26.2 ± 17.6) compared with controls (8.9 ± 11.5, P < 0.001). 21% of control players reporting >16 symptom severity, misclassifying them as suspected concussion. There were no significant sex differences. Factor analysis produced four symptom clusters of which Headache was most discriminatory between the head injured (median = 1.7) and controls (median = 0.0). Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that exercise and contact during a game affect symptom assessment, increasing the likelihood of misclassifying players with suspected concussion. Factor characterization of symptoms associated with head injury using an exercised comparison group provides more useful discrimination. These results highlight the necessity for objective measures to diagnose concussions outside of symptom self-report.