EFFECT OF HISTORY OF CONCUSSION ON KING-DEVICK TEST PERFORMANCE

Abstract

The King-Devick Test (KDT) is a concussion assessment tool that requires individuals to read single-digit numbers from left to right as fast and as accurately as possible. Although sufficient research has been conducted on the KDT as a whole, little research has analyzed the effect of concussion history on KDT performance. The purpose of this study is to determine if history of concussion will predict worse performance on the KDT. Ten participants were recruited to this study with inclusion criteria being 1) between the ages of 18 and 26 and 2) enrolled as a student at Indiana University. Exclusion criteria included 1) visual, ocular, or brain injury within the past 12 months, 2) history of an eye movement disorder, 3) noncorrected visual impairment, and 4) diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dyscalculia, or a language processing disorder. Based on self-reported concussion history, participants were sorted into one of two groups: no concussion history (NoHx) or a history of concussion (ConHx). The participants completed the KDT twice, completion time and number of errors were recorded, and the two times were averaged to attain the participant’s overall time score. An independent t-test was used to examine the effect of concussion history on KDT performance. For all tests, significance was set to α = 0.05. The average time for the NoHx group to complete the KDT was 42.71 seconds ± 3.62 and the average time for the ConHx group was 44.15 seconds ± 6.71. There was no significant difference between the groups when comparing performance (p value =0.687). Although not significant, the study showed promising results regarding those with concussion history producing slower KDT times than those without concussion history. Further research is needed with a larger sample size to better determine the effect of concussion history on KDT performance.