title: Development, implementation and assessment of a concussion education programme for high school student-athletes.
abstract: Although experts have noted that adolescent athletes should be educated about concussions to improve their safety, there is no agreement on the most effective strategy to disseminate concussion education. The purpose of this study was to develop, implement and assess a concussion education programme. More precisely, four interactive oral presentations were delivered to high school student-athletes (N = 35, Mage= 15.94, SD = 0.34) in a large urban centre. Participants completed a questionnaire at three time-points during the season to measure changes in their knowledge (CK) and attitudes (CA) of concussions, and focus group interviews were conducted following the concussion education programme. Questionnaire data revealed participants' post-intervention CK scores were higher than their pre-intervention scores. During the focus groups, the student-athletes said they acquired CK about the role of protective equipment and symptom variability, and in terms of CA, they intended to avoid dangerous in-game collisions in the future. Our study was the first to create and deliver a concussion education intervention across multiple time-points, and to use mixed-methods in its assessment. These findings may be of interest to researchers, practitioners and stakeholders in sport who are invested in making the sport environment safer through concussion education and awareness.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education , McGill University , Montreal , QC , Canada.
authors.forename: Jeffrey G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Caron
authors.affiliation: b School of Human Kinetics , University of Ottawa , Ottawa , ON , Canada.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rathwell
authors.affiliation: c Department of Emergency Medicine , McGill University Health Centre , Montreal , QC , Canada.|d McGill Sports Medicine Clinic , Montreal , QC , Canada.
authors.forename: J Scott
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Delaney
authors.affiliation: e Division of Neurosurgery , University of Toronto , Toronto , ON , Canada.|f Athletic Edge Sports Medicine , Toronto , ON , Canada.
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.affiliation: g Department of Psychology , McGill University Health Centre , Montreal , QC , Canada.|h McGill University Health Centre Research Institute , Montreal , QC , Canada.|i Montreal Neurological Institute , Montreal , QC , Canada.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ptito
authors.affiliation: a Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education , McGill University , Montreal , QC , Canada.
authors.forename: Gordon A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Bloom
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006260:Head Protective Devices; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods*; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Concussion education; adolescent; injury prevention; intervention; knowledge translation; mixed method