Objective To quantify postural control ability in a group with concussion compared with a ‘healthy’ control group.

Design Case-control study.

Setting University Biomechanics Laboratory.

Participants Fifteen concussion patients (4 females, 11 males) and a group of fifteen age- and sex- matched controls. Participants were excluded if they had any: lower extremity injury that may affect gait; history of cognitive deficiencies; history of ≥3 previous concussions; loss of consciousness following the concussion for >1 minute; a previously documented concussion in the previous year

Independent variable Group; Task (3 stance variants of the Balance Error Scoring System [BESS])

Outcome measures Sway area as computed using a force-plate and sway volume as computed from an accelerometer placed on the sacrum during performance of the BESS.

Main results Concussed patients exhibited increased sway area (1500 mm² [95% CI: 900 to 2000 mm²] vs 650 mm² [95% CI: 520 to 780 mm²] p=0.02) and sway volume (9.5 m³s^–6 [95%CI: 8 to 20 m³s^–6] vs 2.80 m³s^–6 [95% CI: 1.8 to 3.6 m³s^–6]) in the bilateral stance position of the BESS. The sway volume metric also had excellent accuracy in identifying task ‘errors’ (tandem stance: 95% CI: 80–96%, p<0.001; unilateral stance: 95% CI: 85–95%, p<0.001).

Conclusions Individuals with concussion display increased postural sway during bilateral stance. The sway volume that was calculated from the accelerometer data not only differentiated a group with concussion from a healthy control group, but successfully identified when task errors had occurred. This may be of value in the development of a pitch-side assessment system for concussion.

Competing interests None.