A preliminary investigation of balance control during a 180 degree turn in acutely concussed young adults

Turning gait is important to everyday activity but has yet to be fully explored. In this study a clinical dual-task (DT) assessment using a 180˚ guided turn, instrumented with an inertial measurement unit (IMU), was applied to concussed subjects. Subjects had increased turn time at 72hrs and 1wk post-injury in DT. Concussed subjects also showed trends of longer turn time, slower peak roll, and faster peak yaw angular velocities across 2-months post-injury suggesting turning under divided attention may lead to impaired balance control.