Objective The purpose of our study was to investigate if a significant change in concussion baseline measurements occur in athletes who did not reportedly sustain a concussion.

Design Cohort Study

Setting Division I University

Participants 22 Division I Men’s Lacrosse players’ data were used for the BESS test (age=19.95, ± 0.99) and 26 Division I Men’s Lacrosse players’ data were used for the CNS Vital Signs test (age=20.15, ± 1.05)

Interventions calendar year; 2015 competitive lacrosse season

Outcome measures Repeated-measures ANOVAs and paired samples t-tests determined the change in concussion baseline measurement scores from pre-season 2015, post-season 2015, and pre-season 2016. BESS scores and the ten tests associated with CNS Vital Signs were analysed for changes.

Main results There were increases in the number of errors committed during the foam double leg stance (p=0.017) and foam tandem stance (p=0.007) from pre-season 2015 to pre-season 2016. 60% of of the tests within the CNS Vital Signs testing battery resulted in significant improvements from pre-season 2015 to pre-season 2016: psychomotor speed (p=0.031), executive function (p=0.003), cognitive flexibility (p=0.004), reaction time (p=0.004), simple reaction time (p=0.002), and shifting attention correct reaction time (p=0.016).

Conclusions Concussion baseline measurements should be repeated on an annual basis to improve accuracy when implementing a return-to-play protocol following a concussion.

Competing interests None