Objective: To evaluate the reliability of the King-Devick (K-D) Test in a sample of professional football players across three consecutive seasons.
Methods: Team personnel tested players (n=135) with the K-D Test during pre-season medical evaluations for the seasons 2015- 2017.
Results: Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.92 (95% CI = 0.89 to 0.94) suggests good reliability of K-D scores across three seasons. On average, athletes demonstrated significantly faster times between 2016 and 2015 t(134) = -4.54, p < 0.001 (M = -2.14, SD = 5.48), between 2017 and 2016 t(134) = -5.84, p < 0.001 (M = -1.93, SD = 3.80), and between 2017 and 2015 t(134) = -8.09, p < 0.001 (M = -4.06, SD = 5.83). Conclusion: The reliability of the K-D Test in a 3-year span of baseline assessment was classified as good. There were mild practice effects that continued into season three of the baseline assessments. To ensure optimal reliability of the K-D Test throughout an athlete’s career, future research is needed to determine the frequency of baseline test administrations.
Summary Points:
- The King-Devick Test was shown to have good reliability over three seasons in professional Canadian Football Players (n=135).
- K-D Test scores improved over each consecutive season, supporting the importance of establishing annual baseline tests pre-season for each athlete.