Association of Auditory Interference and Ocular-Motor Response with Subconcussive Head Impacts in Adolescent Football Players

The aim of this study was to examine whether neuro-ophthalmological function, as assessed by the King–Devick test (KDT), alters during a high school football season and to explore the role of auditory interference on the sensitivity of KDT. During the 2021 and 2022 high school football seasons, foot...

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Main Authors: Zachary S. Bellini, Grace O. Recht, Taylor R. Zuidema, Kyle A. Kercher, Sage H. Sweeney, Jesse A. Steinfeldt, Keisuke Kawata
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Mary Ann Liebert 2024-11-01
Series:Neurotrauma Reports
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Online Access:https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/neur.2023.0125
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author Zachary S. Bellini
Grace O. Recht
Taylor R. Zuidema
Kyle A. Kercher
Sage H. Sweeney
Jesse A. Steinfeldt
Keisuke Kawata
author_facet Zachary S. Bellini
Grace O. Recht
Taylor R. Zuidema
Kyle A. Kercher
Sage H. Sweeney
Jesse A. Steinfeldt
Keisuke Kawata
author_sort Zachary S. Bellini
collection DOAJ
description The aim of this study was to examine whether neuro-ophthalmological function, as assessed by the King–Devick test (KDT), alters during a high school football season and to explore the role of auditory interference on the sensitivity of KDT. During the 2021 and 2022 high school football seasons, football players’ neuro-ophthalmological function was assessed at five time points (preseason, three in-season, postseason), whereas control athletes were assessed at preseason and postseason. Two-hundred ten football players and 80 control athletes participated in the study. The year 1 cohort (n = 94 football, n = 10 control) was tested with a conventional KDT, whereas the year 2 cohort (n = 116 football, n = 70 control) was tested with KDT while listening to loud traffic sounds to induce auditory interference. There were improvements in KDT during a season among football players, regardless of conventional KDT (preseason 53.4 ± 9.3 vs. postseason 46.4 ± 8.5 sec; β = −1.7, SE = 0.12, p < 0.01) or KDT with auditory interference (preseason 52.3 ± 11.5 vs. postseason 45.1 ± 9.5 sec; β = −1.7, SE = 0.11, p < 0.001). The degree of improvement was similar between the tests, with no significant group-by-time interaction (β = −0.08, SE = 0.17, p = 0.65). The control athletes also improved KDT performance at a similar degree as the football cohorts in both KDT conditions. Our data suggest that KDT performance improves during a season, regardless of auditory interference or head impact exposure. KDT performance was not impacted by a noisy environment, supporting its sideline utility for screening more severe forms of injury.
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spelling doaj-art-91383db3f6fd4e2c8c4bc30792b0423a2025-08-20T02:31:48ZengMary Ann LiebertNeurotrauma Reports2689-288X2024-11-015151252110.1089/neur.2023.0125Association of Auditory Interference and Ocular-Motor Response with Subconcussive Head Impacts in Adolescent Football PlayersZachary S. Bellini0Grace O. Recht1Taylor R. Zuidema2Kyle A. Kercher3Sage H. Sweeney4Jesse A. Steinfeldt5Keisuke Kawata6Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.The aim of this study was to examine whether neuro-ophthalmological function, as assessed by the King–Devick test (KDT), alters during a high school football season and to explore the role of auditory interference on the sensitivity of KDT. During the 2021 and 2022 high school football seasons, football players’ neuro-ophthalmological function was assessed at five time points (preseason, three in-season, postseason), whereas control athletes were assessed at preseason and postseason. Two-hundred ten football players and 80 control athletes participated in the study. The year 1 cohort (n = 94 football, n = 10 control) was tested with a conventional KDT, whereas the year 2 cohort (n = 116 football, n = 70 control) was tested with KDT while listening to loud traffic sounds to induce auditory interference. There were improvements in KDT during a season among football players, regardless of conventional KDT (preseason 53.4 ± 9.3 vs. postseason 46.4 ± 8.5 sec; β = −1.7, SE = 0.12, p < 0.01) or KDT with auditory interference (preseason 52.3 ± 11.5 vs. postseason 45.1 ± 9.5 sec; β = −1.7, SE = 0.11, p < 0.001). The degree of improvement was similar between the tests, with no significant group-by-time interaction (β = −0.08, SE = 0.17, p = 0.65). The control athletes also improved KDT performance at a similar degree as the football cohorts in both KDT conditions. Our data suggest that KDT performance improves during a season, regardless of auditory interference or head impact exposure. KDT performance was not impacted by a noisy environment, supporting its sideline utility for screening more severe forms of injury.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/neur.2023.0125traumatic brain injuryconcussionneuro-ophthalmologic functionocular-motorKing–Devicksubconcussive head impacts
spellingShingle Zachary S. Bellini
Grace O. Recht
Taylor R. Zuidema
Kyle A. Kercher
Sage H. Sweeney
Jesse A. Steinfeldt
Keisuke Kawata
Association of Auditory Interference and Ocular-Motor Response with Subconcussive Head Impacts in Adolescent Football Players
Neurotrauma Reports
traumatic brain injury
concussion
neuro-ophthalmologic function
ocular-motor
King–Devick
subconcussive head impacts
title Association of Auditory Interference and Ocular-Motor Response with Subconcussive Head Impacts in Adolescent Football Players
title_full Association of Auditory Interference and Ocular-Motor Response with Subconcussive Head Impacts in Adolescent Football Players
title_fullStr Association of Auditory Interference and Ocular-Motor Response with Subconcussive Head Impacts in Adolescent Football Players
title_full_unstemmed Association of Auditory Interference and Ocular-Motor Response with Subconcussive Head Impacts in Adolescent Football Players
title_short Association of Auditory Interference and Ocular-Motor Response with Subconcussive Head Impacts in Adolescent Football Players
title_sort association of auditory interference and ocular motor response with subconcussive head impacts in adolescent football players
topic traumatic brain injury
concussion
neuro-ophthalmologic function
ocular-motor
King–Devick
subconcussive head impacts
url https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/neur.2023.0125
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