Relationship Between Concussion History and Concussion Knowledge, Attitudes, and Disclosure Behavior in High School Athletes

Objective: Examine the association between self-reported concussion history and measures of concussion knowledge, attitude, and disclosure behavior. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Classroom. Participants: A convenience sample of high school athletes (n = 167; mean age = 15.7 years) from multiple sports completed a validated survey. Independent Variables: Concussion history (main predictor) was defined as the number of self-recalled concussions during participants' high school career. Main Outcome Measures: The outcomes were recalled concussion disclosure behavior (3 measures) and scales assessing both concussion knowledge and concussion attitude. Results: A greater number of previous concussions was associated with worse attitude to concussion and negative concussion disclosure behavior. For every 3 additional self-recalled concussions, there was a mean decrease of 7.2 points (range of possible scores = 14-98) in concussion attitude score (P = 0.002), a 48% decrease in the self-reported proportion of concussion events disclosed (P = 0.013), and an increased prevalence of self-reported participation in games (67%) and practices (125%) while experiencing signs and symptoms of concussion (P
Source: Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: Brief Report Source Type: research