ABSTRACT
Neuropsychological evaluation provides a sensitive tool for measuring the effects of concussion, and in sports-related head injuries, this has led to rapid and innovative development across clinical and research domains. Working with athletes can raise unique challenges in terms of assessment procedures, interpretation frameworks, and information transfer. To better identify assessment concerns of professional athletes, a survey regarding practice issues and perceived responses from the sports community was sent to 38 neuropsychologists currently involved in protocols with professional hockey and football teams. Ninety-six percent of the neuropsychologists in the Sports Testing Survey indicated they were directly involved in the testing of the athlete following a concussion. The testing of athletes both at baseline and following a concussive event rarely conform to the “standard” office visit with which most neuropsychologists are familiar. The behavioral and emotional “impact” of performing tests on athletes both at baseline and during post concussive events has never been systematically explored.
