The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the marketing of two tests that will help determine an athlete's cognitive status after a brain injury or concussion — just in time for the fall sports season. The two tests are the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing, referred to as ImPACT, and a version for younger athletes called the ImPACT Pediatric.
These are the first medical devices intended to assess cognitive function after a possible concussion to receive FDA approval. The tests are considered to be part of a comprehensive medical evaluation that clinicians will perform to determine the extent of a head injury.
"These devices provide a useful new tool to aid in the evaluation of patients experiencing possible signs of a concussion, but clinicians should not rely on these tests alone to rule out a concussion or determine whether an injured player should return to a game," said Carlos Peña, Ph.D., M.S., director of the division of neurological and physical medicine devices at the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
ImPACT is a 25-minute computerized concussion testing system at a desktop computer with a mouse, designed for use on athletes ages 12-59. ImPACT Pediatric operates on an iPad and is for athletes age 5-11.
The test has two forms. One is administered by a physician, nurse, athletic trainer, athletic director or coach at the start of a season. The second is administered when there is a potential concussive event.
A trained, licensed clinician compares the test results to the baseline scores or, if not available, to the normative database scores. The test is not intended to diagnose a concussion or determine fitness to play, but to assess skills. The cognitive functions tested are memory, reaction time and word recognition.
The FDA reported that the Pittsburgh company producing ImPACT — ImPACT Applications, Inc. — had provided more than 250 peer-reviewed publications in support of the science behind the test. They are one of many groups working within youth sports are working toward having stronger science and research efforts to ensure the safety of young athletes.
The state of Texas recently took a step to further ensure the health of their young athletes by developing a first-of-its-kind statewide concussion registry. The Texas Sports Concussion Network Registry (CON-Tex) is a project that aims to document and track concussion events.
The Athletic Trainers' Society of New Jersey surveyed 86 athletic trainers for the years 2010-12 to determine the incidence of concussions in the fall sports at secondary schools in the state. The study found football had the highest rate at 57 percent, followed by girls soccer at 18 percent, boys soccer at 14 percent, cheering at 6 percent, field hockey at 4 percent and gymnastics at 1 percent.
"This study highlights some of the issues that continue to affect our high school athletes," ATSNJ President John Furtado notes. "We need to address this problem from every possible angle and work together to create change. Despite all the publicity, there are still too many concussions in secondary school sports."
With the approval of ImPACT, medical professionals have yet another tool to use to further protect the health of young athletes. But education and awareness are still key.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages any person involved in youth sports to have an increasing awareness of the risk to brain and health with sports. In their HEADS UP to Youth Sports program, they have made available educational materials targeting coaches, parents, sports officials and youth athletes.
