A systematic review of acute concussion assessment selection in research

Background: Several organisations developed guidelines and assessments for aiding in the diagnosis of concussions. The growing number of concussion assessments increases the difficulty for researchers and clinicians to determine the best method of concussion diagnosis.

Purpose: To systematically review the current assessments selected for acute sports-related concussion.

Methods: Academic Search Premier, CINHAL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and SPORTDiscus were searched. English-language, peer-review published studies of acute (<72 h) concussion assessments were included.

Results: A total of 31 studies met inclusion criteria (of 291 evaluated); 27 studies provided sufficient information to be included in the descriptive statistics of the assessments. Six of these assessments were used in at least three studies. Only 12 percent of the population studied was female. The age range for these assessments was 9–67 years, although most participants ranged in age between 18 and 35 years.

Conclusion: There is a need for a ‘gold’ standard concussion assessment to enable consistency across research and clinical outcomes. We found a large discrepancy between the number of males and females assessed, suggesting that future studies are needed to determine if these current assessments identify concussion signs and symptoms unique to females. Further studies are needed to determine which assessments are appropriate and valid for youth athletes.