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King‐Devick test normative reference values and internal consistency in youth football and soccer athletes
Author(s) -
Moran Ryan N.,
Covassin Tracey
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/sms.13286
Subject(s) - athletes , concussion , test (biology) , normative , football , psychology , internal consistency , cronbach's alpha , poison control , physical therapy , medicine , injury prevention , clinical psychology , psychometrics , medical emergency , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology , political science , law , biology
The King‐Devick (K‐D) test has gained popularity as a sideline concussion assessment tool, comprising of visual tracking and saccadic eye movements. However, limited normative data exist for youth athletes under the age of 13. The purpose of this study was to establish normative reference values and examine the internal consistency of the K‐D test in youth athletes. The K‐D test was administered to 422 youth football and soccer athletes prior to their respective season. The average K‐D score was 54.29 ± 11.5 seconds. Across the two trials, 55% of participants committed at least one error. Overall, the K‐D test demonstrated a high internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.92) when administered at baseline. Inter‐item correlations revealed a moderate‐to‐strong relationship between test cards and trials ( r range = 0.71 to 0.95; P < 0.001), along with test cards and baseline K‐D time ( r range = 0.85 to 0.94; P < 0.001). Although the K‐D test was consistent during baseline testing, the high percentage of errors at baseline makes the K‐D test questionable for post‐concussion comparisons.