A - 18 Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-5th Edition (SCAT5) Normative Reference Values for Professional Men’s Rugby League Players

Abstract

The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-5th Edition (SCAT5) is a standardized assessment that is administered to athletes at preseason and after suspected concussion. We provide normative reference values for men’s professional National Rugby League (NRL) players. Baseline SCAT5 scores were obtained from 1005 NRL players during the 2018 and 2019 seasons (Mage = 25.9). Players self-identified whether they considered their cultural heritage or ethnicity to be “Pasifika (Pacific Islander) or Māori” (n = 243; 24.2%) or “Indigenous Australian” (n = 82; 8.2%). Those who identified as being from any other race, ethnicity, or cultural heritage were combined into a single group (n = 680; 67.7%). We provide normative values for the Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC), Symptom Evaluation (i.e., symptom severity and symptom number), and the Modified Balance Error Scoring System (mBESS). There were no significant differences between the cultural heritage or ethnicity groups for SAC total scores, symptom severity or number, or mBESS errors (p’s > 0.05). The median SAC score was 27 (IQR = 25–28), median symptom severity was 0 (IQR = 0–2), median symptom number was 0 (IQR = 0–1), and median mBESS error score was 3 (IQR = 1–5). SAC scores of <23 and mBESS errors >7 were uncommon in the sample while SAC scores of 26–30 and mBESS scores of 0–4 were considered within normal expectations (WNE). Reporting >4/22 symptoms and > 6/132 severity was uncommon while 0–1 symptoms and 0–1 symptom severity was WNE. Normative reference values for the SCAT5 are provided for a sample of elite professional men’s rugby league players from Australia.