Collegiate student-athlete sex, years of sport eligibility completed, and sport contact level influence on concussion reporting intentions and behaviours

ABSTRACT

Primary Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether sex, years of sport eligibility completed, and sport contact level influenced student-athletes’ concussion reporting intentions and behaviours.

Research Design: Cross-sectional.

Methods and Procedures: Student-athletes (n = 828) reported their sex, years of sport eligibility completed, sport, and completed concussion reporting intentions and behaviours surveys. Nonparametric statistics were conducted to compare intentions and behaviours between groups (alpha = 0.05).

Main Outcomes and Results: Females had higher indirect intentions to report concussion than males (p = 0.035), but did not differ in direct intentions (p = 0.258) or behaviours (indirect: p = 0.756; direct: p = 0.686). Intentions (indirect: p = 0.383; direct: p = 0.397) and behaviours (indirect: p = 0.154; direct: p = 0.999) did not differ between years of sport eligibility completed. Limited/non-contact sport student-athletes intended to report more concussions than those in collision/contact sports (indirect: p = 0.001; direct: p = 0.021), but did not differ in behaviours (indirect: p = 0.184; direct: p = 0.497).

Conclusions: Data suggest that female and limited/non-contact sport student-athletes intended to report more concussions, however differences did not translate to reporting behaviours.

KEYWORDS:

• Sport-related concussion
• sex
• years sport eligibility completed
• sport contact level

Conflict of interest

Michelle Weber has received stipend and travel funds from The National Collegiate Athletic Association-Department of Defense Research Grand Challenge: Changing Attitudes about Concussions in Young and Emerging Adults Grant. Julianne Schmidt was the principal investigator in receiving this grant, and too received travel funds. The grant was the research funding source for the associated manuscript being submitted. David Welch Suggs also received travel funding from this grant. Laura Bierema, L. Stephen Miller, and Fred Reifsteck have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Disclosure statement

Michelle Weber has received stipend and travel funds from The National Collegiate Athletic Association-Department of Defense Research Grand Challenge: Changing Attitudes about Concussions in Young and Emerging Adults Grant. Julianne Schmidt was the principal investigator in receiving this grant, and too received travel funds. The grant was the research funding source for the associated manuscript being submitted. David Welch Suggs also received travel funding from this grant. Laura Bierema, L. Stephen Miller, and Fred Reifsteck have no conflicts of interest to declare. This project was conducted with support from the National Collegiate Athletic Association-Department of Defense Research Grand Challenge: Changing Attitudes about Concussions in Young and Emerging Adults.

Ethical approval

The module was reviewed and approved by the University of Georgia’s Institutional Review Board. Individual site Institutional Review Board approval was obtained at additional sites with reliance agreements. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Additional information

Funding

This project was conducted with support from the National Collegiate Athletic Association-Department of Defense Research Grand Challenge: Changing Attitudes about Concussions in Young and Emerging Adults;National Collegiate Athletic Association [FP00004605];U.S. Department of Defense [AWD00004388];