Abstract
Objective
To determine reference values for the Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6) in a young, physically
active cohort and to examine the influence of sex, concussion history, headache history,
and competitive sport level on HIT-6 scores.
Design
Cross-sectional.
Setting
United States Service Academy.
Participants
United States Service Academy cadets (N=2678) completed an HIT-6 questionnaire as
part of their annual concussion baseline assessment. Cadets with a recent concussion
were excluded from baseline testing.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Reference values were calculated and stratified by sex, concussion history, headache
history, and competitive sport level. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to examine the effect of sex, concussion history,
headache history, and competitive sport level on HIT-6 scores (P<.05).
Results
Of the 3599 cadets baselined, 2687 cadets (23% female) agreed to participate in the
study and completed the HIT-6. Female participants reported significantly worse HIT-6
scores compared with male participants both with (P<.001) and without (P<.001) a concussion history. In both sexes, participants with a headache history reported
worse scores than those with no headache/concussion history and a concussion history
(all P<.005). Female cadets who participated in intramural athletics reported worse HIT-6
scores at baseline than female intercollegiate athletes (P=.003).
Conclusions
This is the first study to stratify HIT-6 data by sex, concussion history, headache
history, and sport level in a collegiate population at risk for concussions. Sex and
headache history appear to influence HIT-6 scores and should be given special consideration
when interpreting health-related quality of life deficits due to headache.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
HIT-6 (Headache Impact Test-6), HRQL (health-related quality of life), NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 23, 2021
Accepted:
May 31,
2021
Received in revised form:
May 3,
2021
Received:
March 12,
2021
Footnotes
Presented as a poster to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, June 2018, New Orleans, LA.
Supported in part by a research grant from the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Ft. Detrick, MD (grant no. HU0001-15-2-0037 [2988]).
Disclosures: None.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
