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HEADSMART™ SPORTS CONCUSSION TESTING
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Computerised concussion assessment
Concussion outcomes can be unpredictable. Athletes and players participating in contact and collision sport should have a CogState 
baseline test before injury. This practice improves the ability of doctors to manage athletes back to sport safely. Objective information about the athlete’s brain function is one part of the overall care.
International team physicians find baseline and after-injury computerised testing very helpful. Individualized comparisons of brain function improved the accuracy of return to play decisions. Players self-reporting of their symptoms is subjective. The team physician is therefore relying on the honesty of the player when asked to answer questions about having concussion symptoms. The objective data that the CogState test provides is an invaluable piece of the return to play puzzle.
Baseline Brain Function Testing
- Uses playing cards to assess reaction time, memory, concentration and attention within 8-10 minutes.
- Appropriate for ages 8+.
- Baseline screening provide medical doctors with accurate comparative test re-test brain function results.
- Monitors for any long-term cumulative brain damaging effects of concussion
Is baseline screening important?
A baseline computerised screening is a brain function assessment that is routinely used to establish normal thinking ability in an athlete or player. The results of a baseline screening can be compared to the results of an after-injury computerized brain function test to assist in the diagnosis of concussion and plan recovery. A computerised baseline screening typically evaluates the athlete or player:
- Simple reaction time
- Learning and memory skills
- Ability to pay attention or concentrate
- Problem solving capacity
Baseline computerised brain function testing is important for the following reasons:
- Is readily available and cost effective
- Can be done in the quiet of your own home (remote administration)
- Detects when impaired brain function lasts longer than the athlete has symptoms
- Precisely measures reaction time
- Provides objective information about the player’s recovery
- Has in built sophisticated software checks that detect when a player is purposefully performing poorly, especially on baseline testing
- Provides extra information in players with multiple concussions
- Helps to find those players with delayed brain function recovery who need more detailed testing with a neuropsychologist
- Is a useful add-on to clinical assessment and judgement
- Provides added assurance for fast tracking return to play decisions in professional sport
- Is easy to administer and takes a short time
- Helps when athletes under reports their symptoms in order to keep playing
- Younger players may not recognise the symptoms of concussion
- Athletes may be overly anxious
- Liability mitigation benefit for schools and clubs
The HeadSmart™ Sports Concussion Programme provides an end-to-end sports concussion solution for grassroots schools and clubs to the same standard as professional teams. Children and weekend warriors’ brains are no less important than high-earning athletes.
HeadSmart™ is your “insurance policy” for that clash of heads during a sports event. Our programme ensures over 97% accuracy in sports concussion diagnosis and return-to-sport results.
Our key objectives:
- Prevent sudden death in sport.
- Identify brain injury that needs an urgent operation.
- Test for ongoing brain function problems when symptoms look like they have gone.
- Test for signs of developing long-term brain damage.
- Reduce the chance of a second concussion.
- Aid performance at school.
- Find medical doctors quickly using a Google map locator.
- Forward concussion information to parents, coaches, medical staff, athletes and sport officials.
- Support concussion research
