The effect of sleep quality and sleep quantity on concussion assessment

Proper concussion assessment is imperative for properly caring for athletes who sustain traumatic brain injuries. Decreased sleep quality and sleep quantity affect cognition and may threaten the validity of clinical measures often employed as a part of the concussion assessment. The purpose of this study was to determine if sleep quality or quantity affect performance on clinical measures of concussion and if changes in sleep quality or quantity are associated with changes in performance on clinical measures of concussion. We performed preseason baseline testing on 155 student-athletes; 56 were re-evaluated ten weeks later. Sleep quality and quantity data were collected during each testing session. Subjects with low sleep quantity at baseline reported a greater number of symptoms and more severe symptoms. Sleep quantity at baseline did not affect any concussion assessment measures. Also, there was no association between changes in sleep quality or quantity and changes in concussion assessment measures.