Brief Report  |   March 2018
Development and Pilot Testing of the Dual Task Screen in Healthy Adolescents
Jaclyn Stephens; Rachel Nicholson; Beth Slomine; Stacy Suskauer
Author Affiliations
  • Jaclyn Stephens, PhD, OTR/L, is Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, Colorado State University, Fort Collins; jaclyn.stephens@colostate.edu. At the time of the study, she was Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, and Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
  • Rachel Nicholson, MS, is PsyD Student, Immaculata University, Malvern, PA. At the time of the study, she was Research Assistant, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD
  • Beth Slomine, PhD, ABPP is Codirector, Center for Brain Injury Recovery, and Director of Training and Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Services, Department of Neuropsychology, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, and Associate Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
  • Stacy Suskauer, MD, is Research Scientist and Codirector, Center for Brain Injury Recovery, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, and Associate Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Article Information
Neurologic Conditions / Pediatric Evaluation and Intervention / Traumatic Brain Injury / Columns: Brief Report
Brief Report   |   March 2018
Development and Pilot Testing of the Dual Task Screen in Healthy Adolescents
American Journal of Occupational Therapy, March 2018, Vol. 72, 7203345020p1-7203345020p6. doi:10.5014/ajot.2018.025361
American Journal of Occupational Therapy, March 2018, Vol. 72, 7203345020p1-7203345020p6. doi:10.5014/ajot.2018.025361
Abstract

Athletes with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) should refrain from high-risk activities until recovered (symptom free and cognitive and physical exam findings normalize). Studies have suggested that this examination may not be sufficiently sensitive because dual-task paradigms, which typically assess motor performance while a person simultaneously completes a distractor task, can detect residual deficits in athletes who otherwise appear recovered from mTBI. Paradigms used to date are time-intensive procedures conducted in laboratory settings. Here, we report findings from a pilot study of the Dual Task Screen (DTS), which is a brief evaluation with two dual-task paradigms. In 32 healthy female adolescents, the DTS was administered in a mean of 5.63 min in the community, and every participant had poorer dual-condition performance on at least one of the motor tasks. The DTS is a clinically feasible measure and merits additional study regarding utility in adolescents with mTBIs.