title: Assessment and Training of Visuomotor Reaction Time for Football Injury Prevention.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neurocognitive reaction time has been associated with musculoskeletal injury risk, but visuomotor reaction time (VMRT) derived from tests that present greater challenges to visual stimulus detection and motor response execution may have a stronger association.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess VMRT as a predictor of injury and the extent to which improvement may result from VMRT training.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  University athletic performance center.
  
  
  METHODS
  76 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division-I FCS football players (19.5 ± 1.4 y, 1.85 ± 0.06 m, 102.98 ± 19.06 kg).
  
  
  METHODS
  Preparticipation and postseason assessments. A subset of players who exhibited slowest VMRT in relation to the cohort's postseason median value participated in a 6-wk training program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Injury occurrence was related to preparticipation VMRT, which was represented by both number of target hits in 60 s and average elapsed time between hits (ms). Receiver operating characteristic analysis identified the optimum cut point for a binary injury risk classification. A nonparametric repeated-measures analysis of ranks procedure was used to compare posttraining VMRT values for slow players who completed at least half of the training sessions (n = 15) with those for untrained fast players (n = 27).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A preparticipation cut point of ≤85 hits (≥705 ms) discriminated injured from noninjured players with odds ratio = 2.30 (90% confidence interval, 1.05-5.06). Slow players who completed the training exhibited significant improvement in visuomotor performance compared with baseline (standardized response mean = 2.53), whereas untrained players exhibited a small performance decrement (group × trial interaction effect, L2= 28.74; P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Slow VMRT appears to be an important and modifiable injury risk factor for college football players. More research is needed to refine visuomotor reaction-time screening and training methods and to determine the extent to which improved performance values can reduce injury incidence.
authors.forename: Gary B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Wilkerson
authors.forename: Kevin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: Ryan A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012916:Soccer; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: decision support techniques; dynamic visual acuity; feed-forward neuromuscular control; neurocognitive testing; risk screening