Concussion education perceptions among secondary school athletic trainers

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Describe concussion education perceptions among secondary school athletic trainers and determine the relationship between education program characteristics and perceived effectiveness.

Methods

Two hundred and three participants completed at least one survey item (age = 35.2 ± 9.4 years; male = 27.6%). We used descriptive statistics to describe concussion education characteristics and point out biserial correlations to determine if relationships existed between concussion education characteristics and perceived effectiveness.

Results

The most frequently used mandated concussion education programs were informational handouts created by the state interscholastic association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Heads Up materials, and the National Federation of State High School Athletic Association’s materials. The CDC’s Heads Up materials, handouts created by the state interscholastic association, and in-person presentations created by respondents were the most frequent concussion educational programs utilized by respondents who indicated no specific program mandated. Educational programs that were engaging increased perceived effectiveness (n = 131, r_pb = 0.31,p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Our results highlight that materials created by state interscholastic association and the CDC’s Heads Up program among others are utilized to satisfy mandates and are perceived to be moderately effective, especially when perceived to be engaging. These results can help guide future studies to examine specific educational tools and administration strategies to determine effectiveness on concussion disclosure.

KEYWORDS:

• Mild traumatic brain injury
• high school
• adolescents
• knowledge translation
• state law/state policy

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Cailee Welch Bacon and Dr. Johna Register-Mihalik for their assistance with the instrument development.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.