Objective To investigate the effects of posture and level of exertion on dynamic visual acuity (DVA; visual perceptual processing task) in athletes with and without history of sport-related concussion (SRC).

Design DVA, scored as the log of the minimum angle of resolution (LogMAR), was assessed using a custom program with a tumbling ‘E’ target displayed on a 55’ monitor at a 4m viewing distance. The target moved randomly or horizontally at 2.31m/s. Participants completed one trial of each motion in four conditions: seated; standing; and treadmill walking at low (85–100 bpm) and moderate (115–130bpm) intensities.

Setting University Research Laboratory.

Participants Varsity athletes (N= 28; age= 20.9±1.4; rugby, ice hockey, and lacrosse) without SRC (n=11) were compared to asymptomatic athletes with recent (n=8; post-SRC=3–9 months) and previous SRC (n=9; post-SRC=1–5 years).

Interventions (or Assessment of Risk Factors) moV& program (V&MP Vision Suite, University of Waterloo).

Outcome Measures Difference in LogMAR scores from seated were calculated for the other postural conditions.

Main Results There was no interaction effect of motion and posture (F=1.29, p=.278), no main effect of motion (F=0.33, p=.573) or posture (F=2.10, p=.133). There was a main effect of group (F= 5.09, p< .05; f= 0.25), indicating that athletes with recent and previous SRC obtained worse DVA scores compared to athletes without SRC across all postural conditions.

Conclusions An objective DVA assessment in progressive postural and exertional conditions may be sensitive to differences in performance between athletes with and without history of SRC, even after resolution of symptoms and return to sport.