Visuomotor Skills in Collegiate Athletes and Nonathletes

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a fuller understanding of the role of vision and motor skills in collegiate athletes and non-athletes.

RATIONALE: To determine effective assessments for visuomotor skills.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional non-experimental design was used to collect data on visuomotor skills of athletes and non-athletes.

METHOD: N=100 (25 female athletes, 25 female non-athletes, 25 male athletes, and 25 male non-athletes) were recruited for the study through convenience and snowball sampling. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire to identify the sports played, injuries sustained, exercise and fitness level, and whether or not eyeglasses or contacts were used to correct vision. Participants completed assessments for eye dominance, intermediate visual acuity, near visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, simple visual attention, complex visual attention, 9-hole peg test, and two timed reaction tests on the Dynavision. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS (Spearman’s rank correlations, two-tailed T-tests, and descriptive statistics).

RESULTS: There was a significant difference in visuomotor skills of collegiate athletes as compared to non-athletes. Significant results were found for fitness (T=4.033), exercise (T=5.058), 9-hole peg test (T=-2.700), Dynavision median score test 1 (T=-2.204), Dynavision reaction time test 2 (T=-2.150), and various quadrants and rings on the Dynavision for athletes vs. non-athletes. By sex, significant findings were found for male athletes vs. non-athletes for exercise (T=3.1610, Dynavision Median Score Test 1 (T--2.024), and Dynavision left lower quadrant (T=-2.174). For female athletes vs. non-athletes significant findings included fitness (T=4.347), exercise (T=3.990), 9-hole peg test right and left (T=-3.099, T=-2.560), Dynavision reaction time test 2 (T=-2.012), Dynavision median reaction score (T=-2.252), Dynavision upper and lower right quadrant (T=-2.016, T=-2.316), and Dynavision ring 2 test 2 (T=-2.031). Significant correlations were found for both simple and complex visual attentional assessments and the timed reaction tests on the Dynavision as well as for the 9-hole peg test and the visual cancellation tests and timed reactions tests on the dynavision.

CONCLUSION: There is a significant difference in visuomotor skills of collegiate athletes and non-athletes. Significant correlations were found between the results for simple and complex visual attention and reaction time tests. We recommend that occupational therapists consider using visual attention assessments as evaluation tools if they do not own a Dynavision. Visual cancellation assessments are inexpensive and accessible. Occupational therapy practitioner should also be aware that the Dynavision only calculates reaction time for items struck during the allotted time. Reaction time appears faster when lights are lit for shorter periods of time. Future research should include randomized controlled trials using the Dynavision and simple and complex visual cancellation tests.

References

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Clark, J. F., Ellis, J. K., Bench, J., Khoury, J., & Graman, P. (2012). High-performance vision training improves batting statistics for university of cincinnati baseball players. PLoS One, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0029109

Klavora, P., & Esposito, J. G. (2002). Sex differences in performance on three novel continuous response tasks. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 95(1), 49-56. doi:10.2466/pms.2002.95.1.49

Klavora, P., Waren, M., & Leung, M. (2006). Dynavision for rehabilitation of visual and motor deficits: A user's guide. Hoover, AL: visABILITIES Rehab Services