Inova will provide 14,000 Loudoun County Public Schools high school athletes with a free baseline concussion test for the 2023-2024 school year, the health system and school system said Thursday.
The tests will be administered before sports activities begin. Baseline tests gather data on a taker’s brain functioning, and act as a snapshot of the organ’s typical activity prior to a concussion. Knowing the baseline can help athletes and coaches determine when a player is cleared to return to activities.
“This initiative will improve concussion care along the entire patient journey, and help improve outcomes in the long run. … student-athletes with undetected concussions who continue to play, delay clinical care, and are prescribed antiquated management recommendations, ultimately experiencing worse recovery outcomes,” Inova Concussion Program Co-Director Melissa Womble said in a statement.
The tests are done on the computer and can be completed in 20 or 30 minutes at home or at school. In particular, the test measures brain functions affected by concussions.
“It looks at verbal memory, visual memory, processing speed and reaction time. Those are the areas of cognitive functioning that can be affected, post-concussion. What we see sometimes is the cognitive piece can be the last to fully resolve with concussion,” Ms. Womble told WTOP-FM.
In addition to contact sports known for causing concussions such as football, soccer and baseball, students in non-contact sports like cross country will also be covered.
“We are extremely grateful to Inova for their dedication to our student-athletes. Their expertise will help every high school athlete in the LCPS system, including, for the first time, non-contact athletes in sports who are also susceptible to concussions,” LCPS Assistant Director of Athletics and Extracurriculars Derek Farrey said in a statement.
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