Sensitivity and specificity of an eye movement tracking-based biomarker for concussion

Concussion. 2015 Aug 6;1(1):CNC3. doi: 10.2217/cnc.15.3. eCollection 2016 Mar.

Abstract

Object: The purpose of the current study is to determine the sensitivity and specificity of an eye tracking method as a classifier for identifying concussion.

Methods: Brain injured and control subjects prospectively underwent both eye tracking and Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3. The results of eye tracking biomarker based classifier models were then validated against a dataset of individuals not used in building a model. The area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristics was examined.

Results: An optimal classifier based on best subset had an AUC of 0.878, and a cross-validated AUC of 0.852 in CT- subjects and an AUC of 0.831 in a validation dataset. The optimal misclassification rate in an external dataset (n = 254) was 13%.

Conclusion: If one defines concussion based on history, examination, radiographic and Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 3 criteria, it is possible to generate an eye tracking based biomarker that enables detection of concussion with reasonably high sensitivity and specificity.

Keywords: biomarker; concussion; eye movement tracking.