Athletic Trainers' Knowledge and Practice Application of Public Health Topics

Abstract

ContextAthletic training is at the forefront of the prevention of injury and illness. As the push for population-level approaches continues, including the expansion of standards related to professional preparation, there is a need to examine the knowledge and practice application of public health topics of athletic trainers (ATs), as they may serve as role models or preceptors.ObjectiveTo assess ATs' knowledge and practice application of public health topics.Design and SettingOnline survey with knowledge assessment.ParticipantsFour hundred eighty-seven ATs (age = 35.8 ± 11.1 years, years credentialed = 12.8 ± 10.6) voluntarily participated.Intervention(s)The instrument included a demographic section, a pre and post perceived-knowledge assessment, a practice-behavior frequency matrix, and the Public Health Assessment Tool (PHAT) developed by the authors and Delphi panelists.Main Outcome Measure(s)Measures of central tendency were calculated for the practice-behavior frequency matrix. Perceived knowledge was compared pre- and post-PHAT. We calculated a total PHAT score to measure actual knowledge, and compared perceived and actual knowledge to determine if a knowledge gap existed.ResultsA significant difference (P > .001) was identified for perceived knowledge before and after the PHAT. On the PHAT, participants scored 12.14 ± 2.21 out of 19. The 3 most commonly missed questions directly related to the 3 least practiced topics: social determinants of health, assessing environmental health factors, and assessing health-related quality of life. When exploring the relationship between perceived and actual knowledge, we identified a weak, significant relationship between post-PHAT perceived-knowledge mean and actual-knowledge assessment scores (r = 0.105, P = .022).ConclusionsA knowledge gap exists concerning public health topics in ATs. A lack of knowledge related to public health topics identifies the need for ATs to be mindful of the intersection of daily clinical practice and population health with a future emphasis on deploying community-based health promotion.