Parental knowledge of concussion: Evaluation of the CDC's “Heads up to parents” educational initiative

Abstract

Background: A majority of youth club sport organization coaches have well-established concussion knowledge gaps. Potential negative outcomes associated with sport-related concussion drive the need for resources to educate parents about prevention, recognition, and management of concussion in the youth athlete. Parents play a critical role in management of concussion for their child. Purpose: This study aims to (1) investigate current knowledge of concussion among parents whose children age 5-18 years play a club sport and (2) identify effects of an online video versus online print educational intervention on concussion knowledge change and learning. Methods: 140 parents whose children played a club sport answered questions regarding their knowledge of sport-related concussion pre and post random assignment to an educational intervention: CDC Concussion Awareness video or CDC Concussion Fact Sheet for Parents. Results: Participating parents demonstrated a moderate level of pre-intervention knowledge (mean= 3.73), but critical gaps in knowledge were identified. Knowledge of concussion improved slightly following intervention regardless of intervention type (mean= 3.87). Conclusions: This study confirms the presence of gaps in knowledge of concussion in parents whose children play club sports. Without the protection of concussion legislation, those athletes who participate in club sports are at particular risk due to lack of concussion knowledge and education. This study confirms that education can have a positive impact on parental knowledge of concussion. Clinical Relevance: Pre-knowledge of concussion is the greatest predictor of post-knowledge of concussion, therefore pre-assessment of target audience knowledge followed by a custom educational intervention taking into account principles of adult learning, would be the most beneficial to increasing concussion knowledge.

A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Concussion Education Programs for Coaches and Parents of Youth Athletes

“…However, parents disagreed that most concussions are preventable (42.9% disagreed or were unsure) and believed that CT and MRI scans can diagnose concussions (67.2%). Overall, parents demonstrated good recognition of signs and symptoms, but had difficulty identifying symptoms related to mood and sleep changes, compared to cognitive or physical symptoms [13].…”

“…Two studies investigated the impact of the CDC concussion education programs on parental knowledge [10,13]. Macdonald and Hauber (2016) [10] examined parental knowledge of concussion, information-seeking behavior, and the effectiveness of three education tools for parents (N = 29).…”

“…However, the online CDC training had the greatest impact, producing the largest changes in perception, awareness, and parental knowledge of concussion [10]. Rice and Curtis (2019) [13] examined changes in parental knowledge following viewing of the CDC Concussion Awareness Video or the CDC Concussion Fact Sheet for Parents (N = 140). The video and the fact sheet produced similar changes in knowledge.…”

“…The video and the fact sheet produced similar changes in knowledge. The largest improvements were regarding awareness of second impact syndrome (27.1% increase), awareness of the CDC's "Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports" program (27.1% increase), perception that concussions are a critical issue (16.5% increase), and ability to determine when their child was ready to return to sport after a concussion (13.6% increase) [13]. However, parents disagreed that most concussions are preventable (42.9% disagreed or were unsure) and believed that CT and MRI scans can diagnose concussions (67.2%).…”

Overcoming Knowledge Barriers for Inclusion of School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists in the Management of Students with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

“…Misconceptions related to basic constructs may persist or emerge as new foundational information becomes available, but clinician knowledge does not keep pace with this new knowledge. Importantly, in studies examining the effect of educational training about mTBI, pretraining knowledge is an important predictor of posttraining knowledge, 71 so that an assessment of prior knowledge (accurate or otherwise) may be important in planning the educational approach.…”