A preliminary study of youth sport concussions: Parents' health literacy and knowledge of return-to-play protocol criteria.
Robert W Turner, Jeffery W Lucas, Lewis H Margolis and 1 others
PMID 28506094WHAT IT FOUND
55% of parents of youth athletes said concussion return-to-play rules were not clearly explained, and 73% had not heard of CDC Heads Up.
Parents relied on coaches to identify symptoms.
Key findings
01Parents reported low familiarity with concussion protocols (3.09 on a 7-point scale) while trusting coaches’ return-to-play knowledge (5.28).
0255% said return-to-play rules had not been clearly explained, and 73% had never heard of CDC Heads Up.
03Interviewed parents relied on coaches to identify concussion symptoms and communicate this to them, and seven of twelve said they were not aware if coaches or athletic trainers had concussion training.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The sample was small and not representative: 110 adults were recruited through snowball and non-probability methods, and the group was 82% non-Hispanic White. Only 2 concussions were reported among 20 injuries, so the study cannot describe parental behavior after concussion. Knowledge and concern were self-reported on survey and Likert questions, not observed or tested clinically. The qualitative interviews included only 12 parents, so themes describe those participants rather than all parents. The study did not assess whether coaches actually identified concussions, whether parents followed return-to-play rules, or child outcomes.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest declaration was provided in the supplied article text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that coaches reliably identify youth concussions or that parents will follow return-to-play rules. This study measured parents’ self-reported knowledge and perceptions in a small, mostly non-Hispanic White sample recruited through non-probability methods, and it did not assess actual injury recognition, medical care, or return-to-play behavior.