Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 May 26;5(4):215-226.

Coach, sports medicine, and parent influence on concussion care seeking intentions and behaviors in collegiate student-athletes

Julianne D Schmidt  1   2 , David Welch Suggs  3 , Michelle L Weber Rawlins  4 , Laura Bierema  5 , Lloyd Stephen Miller  6 , Ron Courson  7 , Fred Reifsteck  7   8
Affiliations

Coach, sports medicine, and parent influence on concussion care seeking intentions and behaviors in collegiate student-athletes

Julianne D Schmidt et al. J Clin Transl Res. .

Abstract

Background: Sport is a socio-ecological framework where student-athletes are part of a larger community of stakeholders, including coaches, sports medicine professionals (SMPs), and parents. This framework may hold influence over whether student-athletes seek care for a concussion.

Aim: We aimed to describe, compare, and determine the influence of stakeholder concussion knowledge, attitudes, and concussion scenario responses.

Materials and methods: We recruited a sample of 477 student-athletes and their 27 coaches (response rate=46.6%), 24 SMPs (48.7%), and 31 parents/guardians (4.8%). Stakeholder surveys assessed their concussion knowledge, attitudes toward care seeking, and concussion scenario responses. Surveys administered to student-athletes assessed their concussion care seeking intentions and behaviors. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare responses between stakeholder groups and to determine the differences in student-athlete intentions and behaviors (alpha=0.05).

Results: SMPs had significantly better knowledge (p<0.001) and concussion scenario responses (p<0.001) compared to both coaches and parents. SMPs also had significantly better attitudes compared to parents, but not coaches (p=0.038). Coach concussion scenario responses (p=0.044) and SMP knowledge positively influenced student-athletes' concussion care seeking intentions (p=0.049). Parent responses were not associated with their child's concussion care seeking intentions and behaviors.

Conclusions: The gap in coach and parent concussion knowledge and concussion scenario response relative to SMPs is a preliminary target for stakeholder concussion education and supports the current sports medicine model where SMPs primarily disseminate concussion education. Stakeholders, specifically coaches and SMPs, do hold influence over collegiate athlete concussion care seeking intentions and behaviors.

Relevance for patients: Stakeholders should be addressed within educational efforts aimed at student-athletes and should also complete stakeholder-specific concussion education.

Keywords: brain injury; concussion non-disclosure; concussion reporting; mild traumatic brain injury; socio-ecological model; sport culture.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. (A-C) Stakeholder comparisons of knowledge, attitudes, and concussion scenario responses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. McCrea M, Hammeke T, Olsen G, Leo P, Guskiewicz K. Unreported Concussion in High School Football Players:Implications for Prevention. Clin J Sport Med. 2004;14:13–7. - PubMed
    1. Register-Mihalik JK, Guskiewicz KM, McLeod TC, Linnan LA, Mueller FO, Marshall SW. Knowledge, Attitude, and Concussion-reporting Behaviors among High School Athletes:A Preliminary Study. J Ath Train. 2013;48:645–53. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Llewellyn T, Burdette GT, Joyner AB, Buckley TA. Concussion Reporting Rates at the Conclusion of an Intercollegiate Athletic Career. Clin J Sport Med. 2014;24:76–9. - PubMed
    1. Rivara FP, Schiff MA, Chrisman SP, Chung SK, Ellenbogen RG, Herring SA. The Effect of Coach Education on Reporting of Concussions among High School Athletes after Passage of a Concussion Law. Am J Sports Med. 2014;42:1197–203. - PubMed
    1. Meehan WP, Mannix RC, O'Brien MJ, Collins MW. The Prevalence of Undiagnosed Concussions in Athletes. Clin J Sport Med. 2013;23:339–42. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources