Master of Applied Kinesiology candidate: Whitney Gallant

 

23 June 2026

 

1:00 PM Atlantic

 

Hybrid Defence

 

KCIC Meeting Room

 

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/260292389969064?p=ibBBOOW2l3bA9Mrddi

Meeting ID: 260 292 389 969 064

Passcode: Hu2bA2Lr

 

 

Dr. Lauren Lattimer, Supervisor

Dr. Michael Robinson, York University, External Examiner

Dr. Colin King, Internal Examiner

Dr. Janet Dyment, Chair of the defence

 

 

A sport related concussion (SRC) is defined as a heterogeneous injury that requires a multifaceted assessment and management approach. Assessment of indicators of injury and recovery is a critical step in sport related concussion SRC management. Clinicians tend to rely on subjective patient reported information during their assessments for clearance to return to physical activity (sport). While the subjective symptoms of an SRC may resolve within a specific timeframe, some individuals experience performance deficits for longer periods due to undetected deficiencies in areas such as postural control, oculomotor, and cervical spine function. Contact sport athletes are chronically exposed to high velocity collisions resulting in acceleration and deceleration of the head and neck segment. The cervical spine can sustain injury as the result of a SRC mechanism and decreased neuromuscular control of the cervical spine can increase SRC risk. Evidence calls for an objective and reliable physical evaluation that includes an assessment of cervical, vestibular, and oculomotor functions. The purpose of this study is to develop a reliable method to assess postural control combined with oculomotor function and to assess the reliability of a cervical spine motor and proprioceptive assessment in healthy university contact sport athletes. We hypothesized that the cervical spine and postural control assessments will show good reliability.

 

This observational cohort study involved 45 participants (21 male football, 24 female rugby) university aged athletes. Participants performed repeated trials of an instrumented cervical spine motor control test in a research laboratory. A gyroscope was used to quantify motor control and proprioception of the head neck segment during a computerized unpredictable moving target task (MoCon) and joint reposition error test (JPE). Amplitude accuracy (AA) and directional accuracy (DA) were measured during three different movement trajectories. Postural control measures of area of centre of pressure area (CoP)(mm²), mean sway velocity (SWAYvel)(mm/sec), and total excursion (mm) were quantified using force plates, while participants performed repeated trials of the vestibular-ocular reflex horizontal (VORh) and vertical (VORv), saccades horizontal (SACCh) and vertical (SACCv), and a vestibular head rotation (VHR) test. Data was measured in two identical sessions, separated by 2-4 days. Reproducibility was calculated between both sessions using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). ICC estimates and their 95% confident intervals (CI) were calculated based on a mean rating, absolute-agreement, 2-way mixed-effects model.

 

ICC analyses showed poor reliability for JPE flexion, left rotation, and right rotation, between the two days (ICC=0.01-0.22, p > 0.05). JPE showed moderate reliability for extension (ICC=0.58, 95% CI [.21, .78], p = 0.004). AA for the MoCon test showed moderate to good reliability (ICC= .635-.773, p <0.001). DA for the MoCon test showed good reliability (ICC = 0.797-0.889, p < 0.001). The SACCh showed moderate reliability for SWAYvel and total excursion (ICC=0.59, p ,0.01), while area of CoP had good reliability (ICC=0.839, p <0.01). SACCv, VORh, and VORv showed good reliability for all 3 measurement outcomes ICC=0.794-0.826, p <0.01, ICC =0.625-0.727, p <0.01, and ICC= 0.761-0.893, p<0.001). The VRH test showed good reliability for area of CoP and excellent reliability for SWAYvel and total excursion (ICC= 0.766-0.913, p <0.01). Acceptable clinical reliability was observed for cervical spine motor control and balance that combined ocular function. These assessments could be integrated into practice to assess suspected SRC and guide rehabilitation.

 

 

Whitney is a second year student in the Master of Applied Kinesiology, research stream at Acadia University specializing in objective concussion testing to support health care practitioners. Her recent research focused on the Reliability of Cervical Motor Control Assessment and a Combined Ocular and Postural Control Assessment in Male and Female University Contact Sport Athletes. Whitney is a clinical and field based Athletic Therapist and Registered Massage Therapist. After 5 seasons working with the varsity athletics at Acadia University, she now works within the Northern Super League as an Athletic Therapist for the Halifax Tides FC. During her time at Acadia University, she was a clinical and field supervisor for the School of Kinesiology, Athletic Therapy Option program. Her clinical treatments focused on the acute and chronic assessment, management, and return to play of musculoskeletal injuries and concussions in university athletes. She recently verbally presented and provided a poster presentation at the 2026 Canadian Athletic Therapist Association Conference, as well presented the Canadian Traumatic Brain Injury Research Consortium and was accepted for a poster presentation at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association 2026 Annual Conference and Tradeshow. She was the recipient of the 2025 Canada Graduate Scholarship- Master’s, of the Canadian Institute of Health Research. Her research and clinical interests continue to focus on advancing evidence-based concussion assessment and management in athletic populations.