Information Seeking in Athletic Trainers Related to Exertional Heat Illness

Exertional heat illnesses (EHIs) are a related group of illnesses that can occur during sport participation with exertional heat stroke (EHS), the most severe type, being one of the leading causes of sudden death in athletes. EHS remains survivable and treatable if properly recognized and treated. Current evidence suggests not all athletic trainers utilize best practices for managing EHIs, including EHS. Access to evidence-based research related to EHIs may play a role in ATs lack of utilization of best practices, as ATs must have the information before it can be implemented. The purpose of this study was to explore the information seeking habits of ATs as they relate to EHIs. We additionally sought to better understand the roles that leadership stakeholders play in creating and assisting ATs in accessing such information. Interviews with 8 ATs and 9 leadership stakeholders agreed that there was a shared responsibility in ensuring ATs had access to this information, such that stakeholders were responsible for ensuring it is disseminated, whereas ATs were responsible for staying up to date with the disseminated information provided. One hundred and sixty-four high school and collegiate ATs were surveyed about their information use, inclusive of access and translation to clinical practice. Only 4.9% of ATs reported facing barriers to accessing EHI-related information, while 89.0% of ATs reported being able to implement knowledge gained in clinical practice. Factors including practice setting, years of certification, gender, and holding an advanced degree were found to influence access, implementation, and trust in information sources. With very few ATs reporting barriers to accessing information sources needed to inform their clinical practice related to EHIs, the existing gap between knowledge and clinical practice is likely not directly or entirely influenced by access to information in this population. Future research should continue to explore underlying causes and meaningful changes to content and information delivery mechanisms to determine how best to facilitate translation of knowledge to clinical practice, ultimately improving athlete safety.Doctor of Philosoph