Preliminary normative study of ImPACTVR in Finnish professional male ice hockey players

Assessment of cognition is an important part of concussion management. The common paradigm of baseline and postinjury evaluations is recommended but due to the often lacking baseline data, reliable normative values are needed. The Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACTVR) battery is a widely used method of cognitive assessment offering several language options. There are few comparative studies between language groups on this test battery. ImPACT was administered at baseline to 184 Finnish male Professional Ice Hockey league players. The performance of the Finnish sample differed from previously published English and Czech language samples on the Visual Motor Speed and Reaction Time composites with medium effect-sizes (d = 0.38-0.52). Age, but not education or prior concussions, was associated with ImPACT performance. ImPACT performance is not uniform across language and culture groups and the findings highlight the need for language-specific norms. Finnish reference values for ImPACT for ages <20, 20-26, and >26 are presented. A similar approach is encouraged for other languages.

Automated summary

Cognitive assessment is crucial for concussion management, with differences in ImPACT performance observed among Finnish, English, and Czech language samples. Age was found to be associated with ImPACT performance, while language-specific norms are highlighted as necessary.