Vision Test Could Help Diagnose Concussions on the Sidelines of Games

COLLEGE PARK – A vision test administered on the sidelines of sporting events could help identity athletes who’ve suffered a concussion, according to a study discussed last month at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting.

Researchers, supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, determined that the King-Devick test detected 79 percent of concussions suffered by athletes of the University of Florida men’s football, women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse teams. The study followed 217 athletes, 30 of whom had a first concussion during the season the testing was taking place.

When combined with the test results of two other comprehensive concussion tests – the Standardized Assessment of Concussion and the Balance Error Scoring System – 100 percent of concussions were identified.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to have one comprehensive sideline test,” said study co-author Dr. James Clugston, team physician for the University of Florida Athletic Department, Gainesville. “But the King-Devick casts a wider net in diagnosing concussions.”

Researcher Warns: Soccer Headbands, Mouthguards Don’t Prevent Concussions

COLLEGE PARK – Parents of young athletes need to be warned that some sports equipment manufacturers are trying to capitalize on concussion fears with claims that their gear can prevent head injuries, the director of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said during a recent interview.

Despite what some manufacturers claim, “there is no reviewed, known literature that says mouthguards or headbands prevent against concussions,” said Dr. Dennis Molfese, director of that center and scientific director of the Big 10/CIC-Ivy League Traumatic Brain Injury Research Collaboration.

The Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down on false claims made in mouthguard ads for the past few years. The FTC reached a settlement in August 2012 with Brain-Pad Inc., and its president Joseph Manzo, prohibiting the company from claiming that its mouthguards can reduce risk of concussions. At the time, Brain-Pad’s website stated that they could.

Brain-Pad’s website now makes no such claim.