Reliability of the sport concussion assessment tool 5 baseline testing: A 2-week test–retest study

Abstract Objectives To examine short-term test–retest reliability of the sport concussion assessment tool 5 (SCAT5). Design Longitudinal study. Methods Sixty-two professional male ice hockey players (mean age = 22.5, SD = 3.2) completed a preseason baseline test twice over a two-week interval. Half of the players were tested by the same assessor on both testing sessions. Spearman’s correlations (rs) were used to determine linear agreements, and Wilcoxon signed rank tests (sig r) were used to determine mean differences, between testing sessions. Results Symptoms had high test–retest reliability (Score: rs = 0.85, p  Conclusions The two-week test–retest reliability of the SCAT5 baseline scores varied from moderate to high. However, there was considerable individual variability on the SAC and mBESS scores and most players have notable short-term fluctuation on performance even if uninjured. Recommendations for interpreting change on the SCAT5 are provided.