Computerised neuropsychological testing

Abstract

Should it be performed by neuropsychologists or team doctors? The dual roles of neuropsychological testing in sports concussion are well established. Neuropsychological assessment may aid understanding of the brain structures and processes underlying concussion and the Post Concussion Syndrome. Although this is a primary goal of neuropsychologists working with concussed athletes, a more immediate role lies in facilitating effective post concussion medical management of individual athletes.1 Over the past two decades, “paper and pencil” neuropsychological tests have been used to aid concussion management in many sports.2–4 However, use of such tests has generally been limited to athletes performing at the elite level. The wide scale use of paper and pencil tests in sports medicine is limited by the requirement that test administration and interpretation be undertaken by trained personnel—for example, neuropsychologists, and that administration is usually on a one-to-one basis. This makes neuropsychological assessment of entire sporting teams time consuming, expensive, and beyond the means of most junior and amateur contact sporting organisations. These practical limitations, combined with the psychometric limitations of some paper and pencil tests,5 have led to the development of a number of computerised neuropsychological test batteries.6,7 These computerised …