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Concussions and Baseline Testing
Baseline testing measures an individual’s normal functioning level before sustaining a concussion injury. Since everyone’s abilities are different, your specific testing information can one day be used to compare your post-injury functional level. This comparison gives us a more accurate representation of where you are in your recovery and also assists with making safer decisions about returning to sport and minimizing your risk of more severe injury or persistent symptoms.
Who should get baseline testing done?
Baseline testing is recommended for anyone involved in a high risk or high impact sport or occupation. The testing takes approximately 1 hour and includes:
- Specific medical history questionnaire
- Balance assessment
- Cervical screen for movement, strength and proprioception
- Ocular motor speed
- Computerized neurocognitive testing
- Age specific SCAT 3 testing for on-field detection
To schedule your baseline testing, please book online at Sea to Sky Sports Physio (seatoskyphysio.com) or contact Karina. For group baseline testing, please contact us directly at 604-898-3666 or email us at seatoskysportsphysio@gmail.com.
Why include computerized neurocognitive testing?
Post-injury testing of athletes who reported being symptom free and ready to return to sport because they were “back to normal” showed the average test scores for verbal and visual memory, visual processing speed, and reaction time to be less than 50% of their pre-injury scores (Sandel, Lovell, Collins et al., 2011). Thus we cannot rely on a concussed individual to give an accurate picture of their own recovery and therefore we need a representation of their individual “normal“ prior to their injury for comparison. Computerized neurocognitive testing (ImPACT) can identify neurocognitive deficits even when the athletes are not candid regarding the presence of their concussion symptoms.