High School Football Players' Knowledge and Attitudes About Concussions

Objectives: To assess high school (HS) football players' knowledge of concussions and to determine whether increased knowledge is correlated with better attitudes toward reporting concussion symptoms and abstaining from play. Design: Two survey tools were used to assess athletes' knowledge and attitudes about concussions. Surveys collected information about demographics, knowledge about concussions, and attitudes about playing sports after a concussion. All athletes present completed one of the 2 surveys. A knowledge and attitude score for each survey was calculated. Frequencies and mean values were used to characterize the population; regression analysis, analysis of variance, and t tests were used to look for associations. Setting: A football camp for HS athletes in the Cincinnati area. Participants: Male HS football players from competitive football programs in the Cincinnati area. Intervention: None. Main Outcome Measure: Scores on knowledge and attitude sections; responses to individual questions. Results: One hundred twenty (100%) athletes were enrolled although not every athlete responded to every question. Thirty (25%) reported history of a concussion; 82 (70%) reported receiving prior concussion education. More than 75% correctly recognized all concussion symptoms that were asked, except "feeling in a fog" [n = 63 (53%)]. One hundred nine (92%) recognized a risk of serious injury if they return to play too quickly. Sixty-four (54%) athletes would report symptoms of a concussion to their coach; 62 (53%) would continue to play with a headache from an injury. There was no association between knowledge score and attitude score (P = 0.08). Conclusions: Despite having knowledge about the symptoms and danger of concussions, many HS football athletes in our sample did not have a positive attitude toward reporting symptoms or abstaining from play after a concussion. Clinical Relevance: Physicians should be aware that young athletes may not report concussion symptoms.

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