Table 1

Review question and inclusion criteria

Primary review question/aim
What are the critical elements of sideline screening that can be used to establish the diagnosis of concussion or suspected concussion?
Inclusion criteria
PopulationAthletes competing in sporting activity and sustaining a non-trivial head impact event (includes any nationality, gender, age group or level of performance).
Intervention/index testsAny sideline* screening assessment used to detect suspected concussion following sports-related significant head impact events (including historical features, symptoms, physical findings, clinical tests or technologies)
Outcome/reference standardConcussion, clinically diagnosed by a registered medical practitioner.
Study designPublished or unpublished studies of any research design.
Exclusion criteria
PopulationNot related to sport, subjects <13 years, animal studies
Intervention/index testsNon-sideline testing
Outcome/reference standardConcussion not examined
Study designCase reports
Review subtopics/objectives
Sideline screening testsCharacterise the diagnostic accuracy of sideline clinical tests to detect suspected SRC, including:

  • Symptoms and clinical signs

  • Balance tests

  • Oculomotor tests

  • Cognitive tests

  • Multimodal assessments (either joint use of individual sideline tests or multifaceted instruments)

TechnologyDetermine the utility of technology in the detection of suspected SRC.
Integrated head injury assessment protocolsEvaluate integrated protocols for the detection and management of SRC currently used in professional collision sports.

  • *‘Sideline’ is used generally to denote testing away from the immediate sporting environment, for example, rink side, track side, locker room, medical room, touch line and so on.

  • SRC, sports-related concussion.