Award Date

5-1-2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences

First Committee Member

Richard Tandy

Second Committee Member

Brach Poston

Third Committee Member

Kara Radzak

Fourth Committee Member

Merrill Landers

Number of Pages

80

Abstract

The growing concern revolving around the dangers of sports-related concussions have led to the most recent implementation of neurocognitive (NC) test batteries as a means to objectively determine the presence of a cognitive defect. Whereas any other sports-related injury can be diagnosed with tools such as an x-ray or MRI, a concussion represents a metabolic disturbance that cannot be identified by these diagnostic tools. Many neurocognitive test batteries employ statistical techniques to derive cut off scores in order to represent significant or insignificant changes as compared to individual baseline scores, or pre-established normative values. If an individuals’ post-injury score exceeds the pre-determined RCI, he/she is classified as impaired suggesting a cognitive defect is present. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical significance of a widely implemented NC test battery ImPACT using adjusted and unadjusted RCI methods and comparing composite indices for both overall RCI values and RCI values for different ranges of baseline scores. Ranges consisted of the lowest (0 – 20th percentile), middle (40th – 60th percentile), and highest (80th – 100th) quintile in a sample consisting of 56 NCAA Division I football players. Subjects each completed a baseline assessment at two different time points and composed a within-subjects sample.

Keywords

Athletic training; Cognitive testing; Concussion; ImPACT testing; Mild traumatic brain injury; Sports medicine

Disciplines

Cognitive Psychology | Medical Neurobiology | Medicine and Health Sciences | Neuroscience and Neurobiology | Neurosciences

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


Share

COinS