Research spotlight: Concussion and vision screening

Over the past several years, I have given hundreds of baseline and post-injury concussion tests. Perhaps because I have more of a sensory and perception-oriented background, one of the things that has stood out about concussion tests is the lack of sensory-related information in the assessments.

Concussion tests primarily deal with memory and, to a lesser extent, attention. The recent clinical practice guidelines for concussion evaluation and treatment¹ suggest that vision should be examined as part of the neurological evaluation.

Concussion symptom checklists do include a few items about vision (eg blurred vision, sensitivity to light) and hearing (eg sensitivity to noise). In addition, a recent update to the SCAT2 includes a three-item coordination and ocular/motor screen.