Peer Reviewed Publications

Symptoms Following Concussion
Postraumatic Migraine Characteristics in Athletes Following Sports-Related Concussion Relationship Between Post-Concussion Headache and Neuropsychological Test Performance in High School Athletes Inaccuracy of Symptom Reporting Following Concussion in Athletes
Authors: Mihalik, Stump, Collins, Lovell, Field, Maroon
Publication: Journal of Neurosurgery
Date: Jan 1st, 2005
Abstract:
The object of this study was to compare symptom status and neurocognitive functioning in athletes with no headache, athletes complaining of headache, and athletes with characteristics of posttraumatic migraine group. Neurocognitive tests were undertaken by 261 high-school and collegiate athletes with a a mean age of 16.36 +/- 2.6 years.
  (pdf version)
Authors: Collins, Field, Lovell, Iverson, Johnston, Maroon, Fu
Publication: American Journal of Sports Medicine
Date: Jan 1st, 2003
Abstract:
The relevance of headache to outcome following sports concussion is poorly understood and no studies exist examining this issue. The current study was conducted to investigate whether post-concussion headaches are associated with neurocognitive deficits and/or presence of other post-concussion symptoms at approximately one-week post injury. Study participants included 110 high school athletes who sustained concussion. Concussed athletes were divided into two groups, those reporting no headache at approximately day 7 post-injury and those reporting headaches. Dependent measures included symptom and neurocognitive test results collected via ImPACT, a computerized neuropsychological test battery. Groups were compared across both cognitive and symptom domains as well to the presentation of on-field markers of concussion severity at the time of injury. Results suggest that athletes reporting post-traumatic headache demonstrated significantly worse performance on Reaction Time (p < .001) and Memory (p < .02) cognitive composite scores as compared to athletes not reporting headache. These athletes also reported significantly more symptoms other than headache (p < .001) and were more likely to have demonstrated on-field anterograde amnesia (X2 = 4.2, p = .04). Our study suggests that any degree of post-concussion headache in high school athletes is likely associated with an incomplete recovery following concussion.
  (pdf version)
Authors: x
Publication: Medicine and Science in Sports Exercise
Date: Jan 1st, 2002
Memory Dysfunction Eight-Days Post Injury in High School Athletes Relation Between Fogginess and Outcome Following Concussion
Authors: x
Publication: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
Date: Jan 1st, 2002
Authors: Iverson, Gaetz, Lovell, Collins
Publication: Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology
Date: Jan 1st, 2002
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between the subjective report of feeling foggy at one-week post concussion and acute neuropsychological outcome. The outcome variables were derived from a computerized neuropsychological screening battery (ImPACT). Participants were 110 high school students who sustained a sports-related concussion and were evaluated 5-10 days post injury (mean = 6.8 days). Athletes were divided into two groups on the basis of self-reported fogginess. The first group reported no fogginess (n = 91), whereas the second group reported experiencing some degree of fogginess (n = 19) on a 6-point scale. The athletes with persistent fogginess experienced a large number of other post-concussion symptoms, compared to the athletes with no reported fogginess. In addition, the athletes with persistent fogginess had significantly slower reaction times, reduced memory performance, and slower processing speed. Thus, athletes with any degree of self-reported fogginess at one-week post injury are likely to have persistent adverse effects from their concussions in multiple domains.
  (pdf version)
Top of Page   

Next: High School Athletes

"I attended the workshop in Anaheim, CA and I just wanted to say great presentation. I really gained a better perspective on how I am dealing with concussions. Keep up the good research and continue to lead us in the field of concussions."
- Bill Murphy, Head ATC, Univeristy of Nebraska@Kearney