Effects of Playing Positions on Memory and Auditory Comprehension in High School Football Players with a Mild Concussion

Purpose: This study examined whether different playing positions of high school football players are associated with impaired memory and auditory comprehension at a sentence level after a concussion. The specific research questions are 1) whether there are significant differences in memory on the Immediate Postconcussion Assessment Cognitive Test (ImPACT) between a speed-positions group and a non-speed positions group, and 2) whether there are significant differences in auditory comprehension on Subtest VIII of the Computerized-Revised Token Test (CRTT) between the speed-positions group and the non-speed positions group. Methods: 36 acutely concussed high school football players (Age: M=14.61±1.96, Education: M=8.36±1.92) were administered the ImPACT and Subtest VIII of the CRTT which requires auditory comprehension ability at a sentence level. A group of 36 players was selected from an extant database. The group was divided into two groups based on their reported playing positions: speed-position (N=18) and non-speed-position (N=18), and matched by age and education. The speed-positions were; quarterback, running back, wide receiver, ends, defensive back, safety, and linebacker. The non-speed position group was composed of defensive and offensive linemen. IBM SPSS Statistics 24 was used to compare the two speed groups across the ImPACT and CRTT variables. Results: The results revealed that at post-concussion assessment high school athletes who play non-speed positions perform significantly poorer than a matched group of high school athletes who play speed positions on verbal memory and auditory comprehension abilities.