Browsing by Author "Palokangas, Silja"

Objectives. Most athletes seem to recover gradually within the first 10 days after sports-related concussion (SRC), however a minority of athletes have persistent symptoms. To date, the recovery of Finnish athletes has not been researched. The aim of this study was to research the neuropsychological outcome and recovery trajectory after SRC on average a one-month period in Finnish youth ice hockey players. Both cognitive performance (verbal memory, visual memory, visual motor speed, reaction time) and self-reported symptoms were assessed. Individual clinical recovery was also monitored. It was hypothesized that cognitive performance would decrease (in one or more domains) and that the amount of self-reported symptoms would increase during the first few days after SRC. In addition, it was hypothesized that both cognitive performance and self-reported symptoms would return to baseline levels on average within 10 days after SRC. Methods. The sample of the study (N = 24) was collected in the research project “Heads in the Game” (Pää pelissä -projekti). It consisted of youth ice hockey players who got a SRC during game season 2015–2016 and were in a comprehensive follow-up team. All participants were Finnish, male and aged 14–20 (M = 16.75, SD = 1.59). The baseline performance of each player was assessed before game season. Performance after SRC was assessed in maximum four assessment points until players were clinically recovered. Assessment was done by ImPACT-test. Statistical analyses were performed by linear mixed models. Results and conclusions. Cognitive deficits were observed during the first few days after SRC, however deficits were significant only in reaction time. In addition, self-reported symptoms increased during the first few days after SRC, but this increase was not significant. On average cognitive performance and self-reported symptoms returned to at least baseline levels in 8 days (6–19 days) after SRC. These results suggest that particularly reaction time could be sensitive to SRC. The recovery of Finnish youth ice hockey players took place on average in the typical time course observed in previous studies, however there was variability within individuals.