The impact of an educational intervention on college athletes' knowledge of sports related concussions

Abstract

Objective: To determine if a lecture on sports-related concussions would improve college athletes' knowledge, and to determine common misnomers college athletes have regarding sports-related concussions. Design: Mixed Methods, Validating Quantitative Data Model. Setting: Metropolitan State College of Denver. Participants: Fifty collegiate men/women's soccer players and men/women's basketball players. Intervention: Participants were asked to listen to a twenty minute educational intervention on sports-related concussions, followed by a questions/answer session. Results: Athletes significantly improved their concussion knowledge from the pre-season survey assessment to the post-season survey assessment (p = .000). There was not a significant difference between the four teams (p = .815), gender (p = .788), or age (p = .922) on the survey assessments. Conclusion: An educational intervention given to athletes prior to the beginning of the athletic season significantly improved their knowledge, and they were able to retain that knowledge through the entire athletic season.