The Second International Symposium on Sport Concussion in Prague in 2004 led to the creation of a new Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT) for athlete self-evaluation and physician assessment of sports concussions. The tool combines existing assessment tools, including the Standardized Assessment of Concussion into a new standardized tool on a two-sided card.

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Athlete information

One side contains information for the athlete, including:

• A definition of a concussion

• A post-concussion symptom scale which the athlete scores based on how he currently feels, using a 6-point scale from zero (symptom not present) to six (severe).

• A recommendation that the athlete not be left alone during the first 24 to 48 hours after suffering a suspected concussion;

• Signs of deteriorating mental status; requiring immediate hospitalization; and

• Expected course to recovery (symptoms typically go away with time; the athlete will be expected to rest her body and mind).

Medical evaluation form

The second side contains a medical evaluation form for use by medical doctors, physiotherapists or certified athletic trainers (ATCs) including sections on:

• Signs (loss of consciousness, seizure or convulsive activity, balance problem/unsteadiness

• Memory

• Symptom score (total number of positive symptoms from athlete self-evaluation side of card)

• Cognitive assessment

• Neurologic screening

• Testing speech for fluency, lack of slurring

• Eye motion and pupil tests

• Pronator drift test (asking athlete to hold both arms in front of him, palms up, with eyes closed. The test is positive if the athlete rotates his forearm, drops the arm, or the arm drifts away from midline); and

• Gait assessment (asking athlete to walk away, turn and walk back).

• Return to play advice emphasizing a ban against allowing an athlete to return to play the same day of injury and the development of a structured, graded exertion protocol individualized on the basis of the sport, age and concussion history of the athlete.

To see the athlete side of the SCAT click here

For the medical evaluation side of the SCAT, click here

Author: Lindsay Barton
Date created: January 22, 2008
© MomsTeam.com, Inc.

Related Articles

 Signs & Symptoms of Acute Concussion And Graded Symptom Checklist
 Concussions: Signs of Deteriorating Mental Status
 Concussion Severity & Return to Play: Prague Consensus Statement
 Standardized Assessment Of Concussion With Concussion Software

For more on this topic

 "Concussions: What Are They?"
 Concussion Recovery: The Parent's Role
 Certified Athletic Trainers: On The Frontline In The Evaluation And Treatment Of Head And Neck Injuries
 Post-Concussion Signs & Symptoms: A Checklist
 Balanced Error Scoring System (BESS)
 Retrograde and Post-Traumatic Amnesia: What Are They?

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