Work Type

Poster

Date

2019

Faculty Advisor

Holly Roberts, PT, DPT, GCS, NCS

Language

English

Abstract

Title: Head-Shake Sensory Organization Test Performance in Concussed Military Service Members.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to describe performance on the Sensory Organization Test (SOT) and Head-Shake SOT (HS-SOT) in military service members with concussions.

Subjects: Seventeen military service members (16 men, mean 32.47 +/-8.01 years) who sustained a concussion within the past 24 months.

Methods: Participants completed the SOT and HS-SOT, Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC), and Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI). Separate analyses were performed with subjects divided into groups based on concussion history(>3), and DHI score (>13).

Results: Participants had a mean DHI score of 23.53 (+/-18.42), ABC of 85.43% (+/-14.15), SOT composite score of 71.53 (+/-16.58), HS-SOT/fixed surface (FS) and sway-referenced surface (SR) ratios of .98 (+/-1.13) and .74 (+/-.34), respectively. There were no differences in outcomes when groups were stratified by DHI score or concussion history, with the exception of a higher equilibrium ratio on HS-SOT/SR in participants with a concussion history of >3 than participants with fewer than 3 concussions (1.02, .60, respectively, p =.017).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that despite evidence of imbalance and dizziness on validated patient-reported outcome measures, the SOT and HS-SOT did not detect differences in balance performance.These results highlight the need to identify objective performance-based measures to quantify post-concussive balance deficits.

Clinical Relevance: SOT composite scores may not be sensitive to measure balance deficits following concussion in this population, despite evidence of imbalance and dizziness. Further research is needed to determine whether the HS-SOT is a valid measure to guide clinical decision making.

Publisher

University of Puget Sound

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