Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Aerobic Training and Common Sport-Related Concussion Outcomes in Healthy Participants.
Abstract
CONTEXT:Aerobic exercise interventions are increasingly being prescribed for concussion
rehabilitation, but whether aerobic training protocols influence clinical concussion
diagnosis and management assessments is unknown. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effects
of a brief aerobic exercise intervention on clinical concussion outcomes in healthy,
active participants. DESIGN:Randomized controlled clinical trial. SETTING:Laboratory.
PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:Healthy (uninjured) participants (n = 40) who exercised
≥3 times/week. INTERVENTION(S):Participants were randomized into the acute concussion
therapy intervention (ACTIVE) training or nontraining group. All participants completed
symptom, cognitive, balance, and vision assessments during 2 test sessions approximately
14 days apart. Participants randomized to ACTIVE training completed six 30-minute
exercise sessions that progressed from 60% to 80% of individualized maximal oxygen
consumption (V˙o2max) across test sessions, while the nontraining group received no
intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S):The CNS Vital Signs standardized scores, Vestibular/Ocular
Motor Screening near-point convergence distance (cm), and Graded Symptom Checklist,
Balance Error Scoring System, and Standardized Assessment of Concussion total scores.
RESULTS:An interaction effect was found for total symptom score ( P = .01); the intervention
group had improved symptom scores between sessions (session 1: 5.1 ± 5.8; session
2: 1.9 ± 3.6). Cognitive flexibility, executive functioning, reasoning, and total
symptom score outcomes were better but composite memory, verbal memory, and near-point
convergence distance scores were worse at the second session (all P values < .05).
However, few changes exceeded the 80% reliable change indices calculated for this
study, and effect sizes were generally small to negligible. CONCLUSIONS:A brief aerobic
training protocol had few meaningful effects on clinical concussion assessment in
healthy participants, suggesting that current concussion-diagnostic and -assessment
tools remain clinically stable in response to aerobic exercise training. This provides
normative data for future researchers, who should further evaluate the effect of ACTIVE
training on clinical outcomes among concussed populations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:ClinicalTrials.gov
: NCT02872480.
Type
Journal articleSubject
HumansBrain Concussion
Athletic Injuries
Exercise Therapy
Memory
Neuropsychological Tests
Oxygen Consumption
Sports
Female
Male
Young Adult
Healthy Volunteers
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20736Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.4085/1062-6050-7-18Publication Info
Teel, Elizabeth F; Register-Mihalik, Johna K; Appelbaum, Lawrence Gregory; Battaglini,
Claudio L; Carneiro, Kevin A; Guskiewicz, Kevin M; ... Mihalik, Jason P (2018). Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Aerobic Training and Common Sport-Related Concussion
Outcomes in Healthy Participants. Journal of athletic training, 53(12). pp. 1156-1165. 10.4085/1062-6050-7-18. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20736.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
Collections
More Info
Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Lawrence Gregory Appelbaum
Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Greg Appelbaum is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Sciences in the Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Appelbaum's research
interests primarily concern the brain mechanisms underlying visual cognition, how
these capabilities differ among individuals, and how they can be improved through
behavioral, neurofeedback, and neuromodulation interventions. Within the field of
cognitive neuroscience, his research has addressed visual pe

Articles written by Duke faculty are made available through the campus open access policy. For more information see: Duke Open Access Policy
Rights for Collection: Scholarly Articles
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info