Assessing knowledge and attitudes towards concussion in irish footballers

Abstract

ObjectiveTo assess current levels of knowledge and attitude towards concussion in Irish soccer players and compare findings with other athletic groups. DesignParticipants completed a paper bases Rosenbaum Concussion Knowledge and Attitude Survey (RoCKAS). Results were collated and analysed using descriptive statistics to look for correlation between player subgroups.SettingUCD AFC training facility, Dublin, Ireland.ParticipantsSeventy male semi-professional and amateur League of Ireland players. Participants had to be registered players of UCD AFC Outcome measuresAll 70 participants completed the questionnaire and passed the RoCKAS internal validity scale.Main resultsIrish players showed good concussion knowledge, broadly safe attitudes and good symptom recognition awareness. There is a positive association between safer concussion attitudes and player age (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.258, p-value 0.031), although no such relationship existed between attitude and years of playing experience (p>0.05). There were no differences found in either knowledge or attitude in the subgroup of players who have a previous history of concussion. There was no association found between higher levels of player concussion knowledge and higher attitude scores (Correlation co-efficient 0.222, p-value 0.064).Current study knowledge scores were higher than those of English professional players (p ≤ 0.01) but lower than NCAA hockey players (p ≤ 0.01) but attitude scores across the three groups were similar. (Tables 5&6)1,2 Concussed Irish soccer players are less inclined to continue playing in an important game than their amateur rugby union counterparts (4.3% versus 76.0%).3 ConclusionSafer attitudes surrounding concussion are related to increasing player age, not necessarily playing experience. Higher player knowledge does not necessarily confer safer attitudes towards concussion. Future prevention strategies that serve to only educate players may not be effective unless they tackle the reasons players are likely to engage in unsafe behaviour.Competing interestsNone.Abstract 160 Table 5Pearson correletion co-efficient values comparing concussion knowledge (CKI) and attitude (CAI) among study sub groups.Abstract 160 Table 6 Comparison of current study to previous other studies using the RoCKAS concussion knowledge and attitude questionaire.

A cross-sectional study examining Nigerian footballers’ knowledge and attitudes towards sport-related concussion and associated contextual factors

“…The mean CKI in this study was found to be 56.2% which was less than those studies using English professional footballers (65.6%; Williams et al, 2016), Irish semi-professional and professional footballers (74.8%; Gallagher & Falvey, 2017), Canadian youth soccer players (78%; Doucette et al, 2021), amateur South African rugby players (75%; Viljoen et al, 2017) and cyclists from all global regions (75.8%; Hurst, Novak, Cheung, & Atkins, 2019). The findings of inadequate awareness of concussion causes, diagnosis and sequelae in this population specifically may be indicative of the fact that concussion research and public knowledge translation has been primarily focused on developed countries (Eagles et al, 2016).…”

“…A mixed-methods study by Williams et al (2016) noted an average concussion knowledge score of 65.6% amongst English professional footballers. A slightly higher mean score (74.8%) was found in a cross-sectional study of Irish amateur and semi-professional players (Gallagher & Falvey, 2017). Similarly, in a study including junior soccer player in Canada, knowledge was on average 78.8% using the Rosenbaum Concussion Knowledge and Attitudes Survey student version (RoCKAS-ST) (Doucette, Du Plessis, Webber, Whalen, & Garcia-Barrera, 2021).…”

Concussion knowledge, attitude and reporting intention in rugby coaches and high school rugby players

“…51–54 The most common tool utilised in previous studies is the Rosenbaum Concussion Knowledge and Attitudes Survey (RoCKAS), a reliable psychometric measure that provides an understanding of the respondent’s knowledge about and attitude towards concussion. 55 The RoCKAS has been previously validated as a reliable measure for CK in collegiate student athletes 56 and has also been used extensively to measure CK and CA in students 55–59 and athletes of various sporting backgrounds including ice hockey, 59 , 60 soccer, 61 , 62 and football 54 , 63 .…”

Effectiveness of PitchSafe on Knowledge and Attitude of Baseball-Related Concussion

“…The RoCKAS is a psychometrically analyzed and verified survey which assesses the knowledge and attitudes of individuals pertaining to concussion [19]. This survey has been utilized by other studies to reliably assess knowledge and attitudes about concussion since its publication [20][21][22][23][24]. The survey analyzes three indices: Concussion Knowledge Index (CKI), Concussion Attitude Index (CAI), and the Validity Scale (VS).…”