Functional head impulse test in professional athletes: sport-specific normative values and implication for sport-related concussion

In conclusion, the results of the current study suggest that fHIT can be used to characterize the functional vestibular performance of athletes and establish sport-specific reference values. For the sports associated with higher scores, the sport specific-reference values can possibly help to differentiate between a functional VOR performance sufficient for ordinary activities of daily living and one for sport-related activities at professional level only. Furthermore, as the whole athlete group showed a sport-specific decrease of VOR functional performance, the results suggest performing the fHIT starting with head impulses at higher accelerations (6,000–8,000 deg/s2). This strategy reduces the number of impulse necessary to identify a deficit. All together the fHIT demonstrated a sport-specific sensitivity that supports further extensive tests, focusing on athletes who suffered SRC, to verify sensitivity and specificity for this patients' population. Direct evidence from patients during their return to sport will also be required to confirm that the fHIT can help to identify subtle functional impairments that may become relevant in the athletes when challenged by their professional activity. Ethics Statement The study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee (cantonal ethics commission Zürich, KEK-ZH-2018-01168) and was in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 2013 Declaration of Helsinki for research involving human sub...
Source: Frontiers in Neurology - Category: Neurology Source Type: research