Athletes recovering from concussions face lingering cognitive impairments affecting neuromuscular control, movement patterns and reaction times predisposing them to higher risk for lower extremity injuries including anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears.3 Current concussion detection methods are limited by observer interpretation and intentional underperforming on baseline testing (sandbagging).4,5 Kinematic evaluation has been proposed as a possible diagnostic adjunct; however, longitudinal studies investigating changes in objective jump landing kinematics from pre-concussion to post-concussion are limited. The purpose of the present study was to investigate changes in lower extremity and trunk kinematics during a drop vertical jump (DVJ) in collegiate varsity athletes from pre-concussion to post-concussion. Twenty collegiate varsity athletes (16 male, 4 female) performed three DVJs at the preseason assessments directly before and after sustaining a concussion. The DVJs were captured using a Kinect V2 device that has previously been validated for DVJ assessment.1,2 Specific DVJ parameters (Table 1), and the inter-jump variability (IJV) of each parameter (defined as the standard deviation across a single participant's 3 DVJ's), were compared between pre-concussion and post-concussion using a paired one-sided t-test. Statistical significance was set at P Peak sagittal angle of left and right knees decreased significantly post-concussion, indicating less knee flexion (105.66° vs 91.74°, P = .011; 105.01° vs 91.30°, P = .013). Similarly, maximum spine sway in the X axis decreased significantly from 4.37° to 3.41° (P = .048). IJV of peak sagittal angle increased significantly in both knees (5.81° vs 15.71°, P < .01; 4.63° vs 15.29°, P < .01). Similarly, IJV of spine sway variability in the Z axis and maximum ankle distance increased significantly post-concussion (0.42° vs 0.72°, P = .024; 0.017 m vs 0.029 m, P = .022). Multiple DVJ parameters change significantly in collegiate varsity athletes post-concussion. Notably, decreased peak sagittal knee angle has been associated with increased risk of ACL tear.1 Decreased peak sagittal angle and spine sway may indicate stiffer landing mechanics post-concussion while increased IJV in peak sagittal angles and maximum ankle distance suggest compromised consistency in landing patterns. The DVJ is a potentially valuable tool for objective concussion detection and guiding post-concussion rehabilitation to reduce the risk of ACL tears. For any figures or tables, please contact the authors directly.
Zhao et al. (Wed,) studied this question.