Baseline Performance on Concussion Assessments of Athletes Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

CONTEXT: In the United States, more than 71 000 college students, many of whom participate in athletic programs, are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HoH). Although recent concussion consensus statements have recommended different management for special populations, critical knowledge gaps remain regarding baseline concussion performance in athletes who are D/HoH....

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Audiologists working with athletic training teams should be aware that deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes may have systematically different baseline concussion assessment scores, and this population likely requires hearing-status-adjusted norms or adapted protocols.

With over 71,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing college student-athletes in the U.S., establishing appropriate concussion baseline norms for this population is a meaningful patient-safety gap that intersects audiology and sports medicine.

1. 01Study population: deaf or hard-of-hearing U.S. college athletes — a group exceeding 71,000 students nationally.
2. 02Examines baseline (pre-injury) performance on standard concussion assessment tools.
3. 03Hearing loss may confound balance and auditory components of concussion tests, complicating diagnosis.
4. 04Published in the Journal of Athletic Training (peer-reviewed, PubMed-indexed).
5. 05Highlights a significant gap: no widely accepted concussion baseline norms exist for this population.

PMID

42564964

DOI

10.4085/1062-6050-0462.25.

Journal

Journal of Athletic Training

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

4

Population

Deaf or hard-of-hearing U.S. college athletes

Intervention

Baseline concussion assessment battery administered to deaf or hard-of-hearing athletes

Comparator

Normative data from hearing athletes (implied)