Defining the Baseline: Normative Data for the V-8 Neuropsychological Assessment

Concussions are by far the most common type of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and are especially prevalent in athlete populations. Currently, there is a need to optimize and accelerate sports-related concussion testing without significantly sacrificing accuracy. Therefore, we propose the use of the 8-Variable Psychiatric Screener (V-8), an 8-item symptom-based questionnaire that employs the visual analog scale and takes under a minute to administer: the symptoms assessed include energy, depression, anxiety, fatigue, pain, happiness, stress, and motivation. To generate clinically relevant normative data for the V-8, descriptive statistics (i.e. means, standards deviations and quartiles) will be calculated for all individual item scores for times 1 and 2, the average time and the change score and stratified by sex, number of past concussions and pre-existing health conditions (i.e. anxiety, ADHD and/or learning disorders). Based on the literature, we hypothesize that higher baseline symptom severity scores for depression, anxiety, fatigue and pain will be associated with being female, the presence of previous concussions and the presence of pre-existing conditions. Additionally, we hypothesize that being female and having a history of previous concussions will both be negatively associated with the baseline symptom severity score for energy and that a history of previous concussions and pre-existing conditions will be positively associated with the baseline symptom severity score for stress. The findings of this study may inform new concussion assessment protocols as the implementation of the V-8 may improve concussion patients’ prognosis by quickening the diagnostic process and connecting them with suitable, individualized treatments sooner.