Risk Factors for Vestibular and Oculomotor Outcomes After Sport-Related Concussion

• Published in: Clinical journal of sport medicine
• Main Authors: Womble, Melissa N, McAllister-Deitrick, Jamie, Marchetti, Gregory F, Reynolds, Erin, Collins, Michael W, Elbin, R J, Kontos, Anthony P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.07.2021
• ISSN: 1536-3724
• DOI: 10.1097/JSM.0000000000000761

To investigate the association between risk factors and vestibular-oculomotor outcomes after sport-related concussion (SRC). Cross-sectional study of patients seen 5.7 ± 5.4 days (range 0-30 days) after injury. Specialty clinic. Eighty-five athletes (50 male athletes and 35 female athletes) aged 14.1 ± 2.8 years (range 9-24 years) seeking clinical care for SRC. Participants completed a clinical interview, history questionnaire, symptom inventory, and vestibular/ocularmotor screening (VOMS). Chi-square tests with odds ratios and diagnostic accuracy were used to examine the association between risk factors and VOMS outcomes. The VOMS. Female sex (χ = 4.9, P = 0.03), on-field dizziness (χ = 7.1, P = 0.008), fogginess (χ = 10.3, P = 0.001), and post-traumatic migraine (PTM) symptoms including headache (χ = 16.7, P = 0.001), nausea (χ = 10.9, P = 0.001), light sensitivity (χ = 14.9, P = 0.001), and noise sensitivity (χ = 8.7, P = 0.003) were associated with presence of one or more postconcussion VOMS score above clinical cutoff. On-field dizziness (χ = 3.8, P = 0.05), fogginess (χ = 7.9, P = 0.005), and PTM-like symptoms including nausea (χ = 9.0, P = 0.003) and noise sensitivity (χ = 7.2, P = 0.007) were associated with obtaining a postconcussion near-point convergence (NPC) distance cutoff >5 cm. The likelihood ratios were 5.93 and 5.14 for VOMS symptoms and NPC distance, respectively. Female sex, on-field dizziness, fogginess, and PTM symptoms were predictive of experiencing vestibular-oculomotor symptoms/impairment after SRC.