Athletic Trainers' Knowledge and Practice Application of Public Health Topics

Abstract

Context Athletic training is at the forefront of the prevention of injury and illness. As the push for population-level approaches continues, including the expansion of standards related to professional preparation, there is a need to examine the knowledge and practice application of public health topics of athletic trainers (ATs), as they may serve as role models or preceptors. Objective To assess ATs' knowledge and practice application of public health topics. Design and Setting Online survey with knowledge assessment. Participants Four hundred eighty-seven ATs (age = 35.8 ± 11.1 years, years credentialed = 12.8 ± 10.6) voluntarily participated. Intervention(s) The instrument included a demographic section, a pre and post perceived-knowledge assessment, a practice-behavior frequency matrix, and the Public Health Assessment Tool (PHAT) developed by the authors and Delphi panelists. Main Outcome Measure(s) Measures of central tendency were calculated for the practice-behavior frequency matrix. Perceived knowledge was compared pre- and post-PHAT. We calculated a total PHAT score to measure actual knowledge, and compared perceived and actual knowledge to determine if a knowledge gap existed. Results A significant difference (P > .001) was identified for perceived knowledge before and after the PHAT. On the PHAT, participants scored 12.14 ± 2.21 out of 19. The 3 most commonly missed questions directly related to the 3 least practiced topics: social determinants of health, assessing environmental health factors, and assessing health-related quality of life. When exploring the relationship between perceived and actual knowledge, we identified a weak, significant relationship between post-PHAT perceived-knowledge mean and actual-knowledge assessment scores (r = 0.105, P = .022). Conclusions A knowledge gap exists concerning public health topics in ATs. A lack of knowledge related to public health topics identifies the need for ATs to be mindful of the intersection of daily clinical practice and population health with a future emphasis on deploying community-based health promotion.

Athletic Trainers’ Perceptions of and Experience with Social Determinants of Health

“…This study is not without limitations. While the access rate was low, 10.8% aligns with the average web-based survey access rates found in the athletic training literature [ 12 , 32 , 46 ]. Overall, the demographics are similar to the most recent Board of Certification AT demographic report (accessed on 17 April 2023 ) [ 14 ].…”

“…The addition of formally assessing SDHs may further solidify what the patient is experiencing, which would allow the AT to better provide direct care. Winkelmann et al [ 12 ] found that in regard to public health tasks, ATs are more unsure of how to evaluate determinants of wellness and environmental factors than other public health tasks, and therefore, guidance from other professions may be helpful in identifying effective approaches starting with an assessment. The process of implementing an assessment strategy takes planning and preparation.…”

“…As healthcare providers who have frequent contact with patients, often in school settings, athletic trainers (ATs) are uniquely positioned to identify and address SDHs. Within athletic patient populations, the recognition of SDHs has recently gained momentum [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Athletic trainers are healthcare providers who are responsible for emergency care, prevention, clinical examination and diagnosis, rehabilitation and treatment, and patient education of injury and illness and are well positioned to identify the influence of SDHs among their patient populations and assist in addressing negatively influential SDHs at the individual level.…”

The Evolution of the Athletic Training Profession

“…This work will require partnership with epidemiologists, health educators, health system leaders, and public policy makers. ATs' roles as prehospital, "first point of contact" providers places them prominently among those disciplines that can ensure that all citizens enjoy the form of liberty to be found in freedom from group-related illness and injury (Noel-London et al, 2018;Post et al, 2019;Winkelmann et al, 2020).…”

Precision strength training: Data-driven artificial intelligence approach to strength and conditioning

“…In United Kingdom an interest group called Digital and Informatics Physiotherapy Group (DIPG) (part of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, CSP) was formed to develop, evaluate and promote was formed to promote the use of novel technologies such as virtual reality (VR), telerehabilitation and AI in clinical physiotherapy. Having possibility of patients exercising at their homes with automatic real-time exercise feedback [161,173,209,294,477,538,595,674,675,704,815] could positively inuence exercise adherence leading to improved patient outcomes and lowered healthcare costs [445,884]. Similarly, these personalised and gamied approaches could be designed for general population as a preventive health measure [825], for example to increase the uptake of resistance training [63,867], as 80% of European adults do not meet the global resistance training guidelines of 2 or more days of resistance training per week [62].…”