University of Denver Study Shows King-Devick Test in association with Mayo Clinic is an Accurate Tool for Detecting, Tracking and Measuring the Severity of Long COVID

Proven concussion test would be the first product to aid in detecting Long COVID

CHICAGO—(BUSINESS WIRE)— A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Denver and published in the noted medical journal medRXiv, found that King-Devick Test in association with Mayo Clinic (King-Devick Test) was highly sensitive to Long COVID and may be a reliable tool for detecting, tracking and measuring the severity of Long COVID.

“Effective detection and tracking of Long COVID continues to evade the medical community despite COVID’s arrival almost three years ago. King-Devick Test is easy to implement at home and may be effective in tracking patient progress in the context of Long COVID treatment,” cites the study, which has yet to be peer reviewed.

Because Long COVID’s symptoms overlap with a “post-concussive condition that obviously has a neurotraumatic origin,” the study found that existing concussive framework “provides clinically efficient tools” to assess patients and their treatment plans and concludes that it may provide “a timely and sensitive test to examine the effects of treatment and can be used immediately as a functional test.”

The study further states, “Of the tests we performed, King-Devick Test incorporates the most elements affected by neurological deficits and is highly functional and therefore, may have the highest usefulness in the clinic among the tests examined. The KD rapid number reading requires precise saccadic motion and demonstrated the highest sensitivity of all the dependent variables in the study.”

King-Devick Test is a quick, accurate and objective screening tool used worldwide as a proven indicator of saccadic eye movements as they relate to reading and concussion screening, using Rapid Number Naming. Elite neurological journals have called the King-Devick Test an “accurate and reliable method for identifying athletes with head trauma.” Other studies have proven King-Devick Test to help determine neurological functionality in Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, extreme sleep deprivation, and hypoxia.

The King-Devick Test Monitoring iPad App includes a series of testing screens that require users to read randomly spaced single-digit numbers aloud as quickly and accurately as possible. By using automated speech recognition technology, the App instantly analyzes the user’s test performance and compares results to age-matched normative data and any previous test history available. The test takes about two to three minutes to perform and can easily be done at home.

Researchers in this study found that patients diagnosed with Long COVID averaged nearly 20 seconds slower in total King-Devick Test testing times compared to patients without Long COVID.

Neurologist Bert Vargas, MD commented, “I’m not surprised by the results in this study. Similarly, a recent study supported by the NCAA/Department of Defense released results in which the King-Devick Test was effective in predicting prolonged recovery after concussion. It is an interesting similarity that concussion patients with persistent symptoms often describe similar brain fog type symptoms as described by patients with Long COVID.”

Dr. Vargas was not an author of the Long COVID study although he was an author of a previous study which showed that the King-Devick Test is as effective in telemedicine evaluations of concussion as it is for face-to-face evaluations.

Dr. Vargas is the lead neurologist for the American Medical Response (AMR)/NASCAR Safety Team and both NASCAR and Indy Car utilize King-Devick Test as part of their trackside concussion protocol. Their protocol is supported by peer reviewed evidence including another study released last year that showed that King-Devick Test was the most effective objective test for concussion screening.

Several years ago, Mayo Clinic and King-Devick Test announced a licensing agreement for the sideline concussion test which is now recognized as the King-Devick Test in association with Mayo Clinic. This is the first and only company and product with which Mayo Clinic has ever co-branded. The protocol is reported by more than 140 peer reviewed articles as an effective, objective test for concussion screening in the world.

About King-Devick technologies, inc.

King-Devick technologies, inc. offers a broad set of evidence-based tools utilizing integrated technology to accurately and objectively assess eye movement (oculomotor) disorders such as saccadic dysfunction and objective tools to assess balance and contrast sensitivity.

King-Devick products have been scientifically validated in more than 200 recent peer-reviewed articles published in elite medical journals related to concussion management in addition to reading solutions, migraine headache, Alzheimer’s disease, hypoxia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, extreme sleep deprivation, ALS and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). For more information please visit www.kingdevicktest.com.

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