Impact of Concussions on Postural Stability Performance Using the Head Shake-Sensory Organization Test.
John D Heick, Abdulaziz Alkathiry
PMID 38179588WHAT IT FOUND
Young adults with prior concussion had worse balance than controls when shaking their head on a force plate, and worse still on foam.
Standard balance testing without head shake did not separate the groups.
Key findings
01The concussion group had worse equilibrium scores than controls during the head-shake test (p = 0.007) and during head-shake testing on foam (p = 0.002), but not during the standard test.
02In the concussion group, average equilibrium scores were 81.41 on the standard test, 72.62 on the head-shake test, and 52.90 on head-shake testing on foam, on a 0 to 100 scale.
03Both groups showed lower average equilibrium scores as the balance tasks became more complex.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 9 participants had a history of concussion, so the group difference is based on a small sample. Participants were 18 to 35 years old and recruited from a university, so results may not apply to older adults, athletes, or other settings. The study did not assess attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or learning disability, which the authors note may affect balance. Testing was done in a quiet research lab, while clinics and athletic training rooms may be noisier and affect balance. It was a single-session cross-sectional comparison, so it cannot show whether balance deficits started with concussion, changed over time, or were present before injury. The concussion group did not report more dizziness or less balance confidence than controls, so the balance test differences were not matched by subjective symptoms.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the head-shake test is proven to diagnose concussion or that standard balance tests are useless. The difference was found in only 9 participants with prior concussion, and the groups did not differ on standard testing or on self-reported dizziness and balance confidence.