Examination of concussions and their effect on functional movement screen scores in collegiate athletes

Date
2018
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
It is estimated that between 1.6 and 3.8 million concussions are sustained annually in the United States from sport and recreational activity alone, with 3.9% of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes experiencing a concussion each year. While impairments in postural control, including static and dynamic balance, are known acute effects of a concussion, there has been evidence in recent studies hypothesizing that these deficits may persist beyond the initial 5-10 day recovery stage. One commonly used measure of overall movement quality in collegiate athletics involves the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) however its’ use in concussion management has not been thoroughly examined. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to retrospectively compare FMS scores in a group of concussed and non-concussed student-athletes. Concussion injury history as well as FMS baseline data from the 2015-2017 academic years, were retrospectively analyzed. Concussion history and baseline FMS scores were derived from a large database. The FMS composite score (ranging from 0-21) as well as the individual component scores (ranging from 0-3) were derived for each subject. The independent variables were group status: concussed vs. control, previous concussion history, and baseline 1 (B1) vs. baseline 2 (B2) FMS test time points. The dependent variables were the FMS component and composite scores. Our results showed no statistical differences between FMS composite scores from B1 to B2, or between groups. Interestingly, the deep squat component score was significantly different within the concussion group, actually showing improvement from B1 to B2. The results of our study provide further evidence in support of the current literature suggesting that FMS scores have little to no ability to detect lingering functional movement deficits up to one year post concussion. Those responsible for athlete performance and wellbeing may need to look at other measures of functional movement such as the tandem gait task, or other balance and strength measurements; to better recognize potential movement deficiencies, that may pose potential risks for student-athletes returning to sport.
Description
Keywords
Health and environmental sciences, Concussion, Functional movement screen
Citation