Association between concussion understanding and stakeholder knowledge translation in collegiate sports

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was an association between concussion understanding and stakeholder knowledge translation in collegiate sports following the mandate of Rowan's Law in Ontario, Canada. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine concussion knowledge translation within a sport network using social network analysis. A cross-sectional design was used to evaluate 76 collegiate athletes (54 females, 21 males, 1 not identified), aged 20.55 years (SD = 3.4) who completed a survey on sport demographics, concussion knowledge and stakeholders who provided concussion information during the sport season. Athlete concussion knowledge scores and reported stakeholders were examined. An average of three key stakeholders provided concussion information to 82% of the varsity athletes in our study. Athletes reported that a coach or athletic trainer most often provided concussion knowledge. Overall, athlete concussion knowledge scores were the same for athletes who sought concussion knowledge from stakeholders and those who did not. Over 95% of athletes in the study did not access the Rowan's Law website for mandated concussion education. These findings suggest that Rowan's Law is hugely neglected resulting in stakeholder knowledge translation having minimal influence on an athletes’ understanding of concussions. Future recommendations include verified review of mandated concussion education resources and testing of concussion knowledge for all persons associated with sport in Ontario. Due to the number of athletes seeking concussion knowledge in their varsity athlete network, accurate sport specific resources should be provided to support stakeholders who are in direct contact with athletes.