A-18 Utility of the Child SCAT-5: Performance Differences Across Assessments in Pediatric Concussion

Objective In 2017, the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-5 Child (Child SCAT-5) was introduced as a tool for clinicians to assess cognitive function and symptoms in children following a concussion (Davis, 2017; Echmendia, 2017); however, there are limited data supporting its use. The purpose of this study was to assess performance on the Child SCAT-5 among concussed pediatric patients (i.e., 5–9 years) across two clinic visits. Method Participants included 95 children (42.15% female) aged 5–9 years (7.42 +/− 1.12) who were diagnosed with a concussion within 30 days of injury (8.75 +/− 5.65 days). Patients underwent clinical interview and Child SCAT-5. Paired t-tests were used to compare measures on symptomatology, neurocognitive function, and balance performance between their first two clinical encounters (18.07 +/− 16.05 days). Results Analyses revealed significant improvements for immediate memory (p Conclusions The findings from this study indicate that the Child SCAT-5 is useful for identifying common symptoms in pediatric patients tracking symptom improvement across clinic visits. The measure was also useful in identifying improvements in neurocognitive functioning in this population, particularly memory performance. Further research should focus on how the Child SCAT-5 and other pediatric-specific measures can assess and track improvement in clinical outcomes for this at-risk population.