A - 54 Changes in the Blink Reflex after a Sport-Related Concussion: Test–Retest Reliability of a Blink Reflexometer

The blink reflex may be affected by concussion, but psychometric analyses examining devices that measure the blink reflex are limited. This study assessed the test–retest reliability of the Blinkcns EyeStatTM device at two pre-season baseline time points in a cohort of healthy high school athletes. During pre-season, high school athletes completed the EyeStatTM scanning twice, 15-minutes apart. Pearson/Spearman correlations and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC, i.e., the measure of test re-test reliability) were calculated across 10 different parameters (e.g., latency, total blink time, oscillations, time to open/close). Additionally, t-tests examined if these parameters differed based on biological sex, sleep status (i.e., <8 vs. ≥8 hours the night before), and prior concussion history (i.e., 0 vs. ≥1 prior concussions). Of the 48 athletes (age, M = 16.0¬ ± 1.2 years), 35.4% were female. Correlations ranged from 0.45–0.82 (all p-values<0.001) between the two assessments, and ICCs were 0.46–0.87 (all p-values<0.02). Additionally, none of the Eyestat parameters were significantly associated with biological sex, sleep status, or prior concussion history (all p-values>0.05). This study suggests substantial test–retest reliability of the EyeStatTM device across 10 parameters in a cohort of healthy high school athletes. The findings support the potential utility of the EyeStatTM device as a reliable baseline measure for assessing the blink reflex among young athletes.