The Impact of a Concussion-U Educational Program on Knowledge of and Attitudes about Concussion

Abstract

A Concussion-U educational program led to an immediate improvement in concussion knowledge and attitudes among elite male Bantam and Midget AAA hockey players. Increased knowledge was maintained at long-term follow-up, but improved attitude was not. Future studies should investigate whether similar educational programs influence symptom reporting and concussion incidence. In addition, they should focus on how to maintain improved concussion attitudes.

Exploring concussion awareness in hockey with a First Nations community in Canada

“…For example, collecting and sharing detailed descriptions of personal concussion experiences may help to move concussion knowledge to behavioral change that can reduce concussions injuries (Miyashita, Timpson, Frye, & Gloeckner, ). Other recommendations to sustain concussion knowledge include education messages customized to specifically target the age of the youth and the position played in the game of hockey (Eagles et al., ), multiple teaching modalities to encourage engagement (Echlin et al., ), and a celebrity or retired hockey player who had a concussion to speak at a workshop (Eagles et al., ). Future longitudinal studies could help determine the relationship between concussion education and the incidence of concussion over time.…”

“…Kurowski, Pomerantz, Schaiper, Ho, and Gittelman (2015) found females were more knowledgeable about concussion as compared to males. Eagles et al (2016) also noted that studies with a significant increase in concussion knowledge may overestimate the effectiveness of their educational presentation when the study population is exclusively male. Other studies with non-Indigenous participants have also reported no statistically significant difference in knowledge levels following concussion education (Caron et al, 2015;Kroshus, Daneshvar, Baugh, Nowinski, & Cantu, 2014;Kurowski et al, 2015).…”

“…Other recommendations to sustain concussion knowledge include education messages customized to specifically target the age of the youth and the position played in the game of hockey (Eagles et al, 2016), multiple teaching modalities to encourage engagement (Echlin et al, 2014), and a celebrity or retired hockey player who had a concussion to speak at a workshop (Eagles et al, 2016). This may include traditional stories and/or ceremonies, and in the Indigenous practices of teaching, mentoring, and learning by doing.…”

“…Concussions are often described as a hidden epidemic because they are not readily recognized by the injured players, their coaches, or parents. This may be due to a lack of medical knowledge about concussion among youth, parents and coaches which can result in failure to recognize and report concussion (Eagles et al., ; Lynall & Guskiewicz, ). In addition to underreporting of this epidemic, is the fact that there is no word in the Ojibway language (common among First Nations) for concussion which further hinders the recognition of this major injury.…”

“…Concussion knowledge plays a vital role in the identification, management, recovery, and prevention of injury (Lynall & Guskiewicz, 2015). A number of studies have demonstrated that most youth participating in ice hockey lack knowledge about what a concussion is and therefore, may not report symptoms or seek care (Cusimano, 2009;Eagles et al, 2016;Mrazik, Perra, Brooks, & Naidu, 2015). A recent survey of 170 young athletes in six sports found that youth who were more knowledgeable about concussion were more likely to report a concussion during practice (Register-Mihalik et al, 2013).…”