Publications by authors named "Adam Pfaller"
Context: Football is the most popular sport among US high school students and among the highest for sport-related concussion (SRC) incidence. Limited data detail how SRCs affect high school football players' psychosocial and health status beyond short-term injury recovery.
Objective: To longitudinally assess how SRCs affected symptoms, depression, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in high school football players up to 12 months after SRC.
Background: The long-term effect of sport-related concussion on mood in adolescent athletes is largely unknown.
Hypothesis: Longitudinal measures of depression will worsen acutely after sport-related concussion and improve with concussion symptom resolution.
Study Design: Prospective cohort study.
Background: Sport-related concussions (SRCs) are associated with short-term disablement, characterized as increased concussion symptoms and lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, there are limited longitudinal data detailing how an SRC affects disablement beyond short-term injury recovery.
Purpose: To longitudinally assess the effect of SRCs on symptoms and HRQoL in high school athletes through the 12 months after injury.
Background: Sport-related concussion (SRC) has been associated with cognitive impairment, depression, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. American football is the most popular sport among males in the United States and has one of the highest concussion rates among high school sports. Measured head impacts and concussions are approximately 4 times more common in contact practices compared with noncontact practices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There have been no large randomised controlled trials to determine whether soccer headgear reduces the incidence or severity of sport-related concussion (SRC) in US high school athletes.
Objective: We aimed to determine whether headgear reduces the incidence or severity (days out from soccer) of SRCs in soccer players.
Methods: 2766 participants (67% female, age 15.
Context: In many US high schools, the athletic trainer (AT) has the responsibility to identify and manage athletes with concussions. Although the availability of ATs varies a great deal among schools, how the level of AT availability in high schools affects the reported incidence and management of sport-related concussions (SRCs) is unknown.
Objective: To determine how the presence of an AT affects the reporting and management of SRCs.
Background: High school athletes are increasingly encouraged to participate in 1 sport year-round to increase their sport skills. However, no study has examined the association of competition volume, club sport participation, and sport specialization with sex and lower extremity injury (LEI) in a large sample of high school athletes.
Hypothesis: Increased competition volume, participating on a club team outside of school sports, and high levels of specialization will all be associated with a history of LEI.
Background: Guidelines and practices for the management of sport-related concussion (SRC) have evolved swiftly over the past 2 decades. Despite common recommendations for a symptom-free waiting period (SFWP) before returning to sport, past reports have suggested poor utilization rates for this intervention.
Purpose: To obtain current estimates of the utilization and characterization of SFWPs with high school and collegiate athletes.
Article Synopsis
- Limited data exist on how well computerized neurocognitive tests (CNTs) assess sport-related concussions, prompting this study to evaluate the reliability and validity of three CNTs: ANAM, Axon Sports/Cogstate Sport, and ImPACT.
- High school and collegiate athletes (concussed and non-injured controls) were tested at various intervals post-injury, revealing that while CNT performance differences were notable at 24 hours post-injury, they diminished significantly by 8 days.
- The study found that while CNTs showed some initial sensitivity in detecting impairments soon after injury, their effectiveness decreased over time, suggesting they are most useful for identifying issues shortly after the concussion occurs rather than later when symptoms resolve.
Sport-related concussion (SRC) is a major health problem, affecting millions of athletes each year. While the clinical effects of SRC (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Preseason baseline testing using computerized neurocognitive tests (CNTs) is increasingly performed on athletes. Adequate effort is critical to establish valid estimates of ability, but many users do not evaluate performance validity, and the conditions that affect validity are not well understood across the available CNTs.
Purpose: To examine the rates and predictors of invalid baseline performance for 3 popular CNTs: Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM), Axon Sports, and Immediate Post-Concussion and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT).