The Effectiveness of Communication Mediums on Concussion Education

Improving an athlete's knowledge of concussion signs and symptoms may play a huge part in prevention (Kaut, DePompei, Kerr, & Congeni, 2003). A "media-rich" society influences how an individual processes, perceives, and retains information (Lee, Cheng, Rai, & Depickere, 2005; Wessels & Steenkamp, 2009). This daily exposure to technology transfers to the classroom and may have a connection to how athletic trainers educate athletes about concussions (Wessels & Steenkamp, 2009). Multiple studies have been performed focusing on the level of awareness and knowledge of parents, coaches, and athletes, but the effectiveness of these materials needs to be studied (Gourley et al, 2010; Kaut et al., 2003). The goal of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of multiple communication mediums used for concussion education and if these mediums effect short- and long-term information retention. Thirty-three college-aged subjects were divided into five groups who completed three surveys (pre-test, immediate post-test, and month post-test). Four treatment groups were given one of four mediums on concussions (pamphlet, lecture, video, and online tutorial). Subjects took the immediate post-test, then the same subjects came back 24 to 51 days later to complete the month post-test. The control group just completed the surveys with no additional education. Concussion knowledge survey scores were submitted using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures. The ANOVA showed there was no significance (p>0.05) when comparing the pre-test, immediate post-test, and month post-test among the five groups (control, pamphlet, lecture, video, and online tutorial) (p = 0.911), therefore the hypothesis was rejected. The results of this study revealed no significance of using different communication mediums to educate people on concussions. The descriptive statistics did show that subjects for all of the education groups made a small improvement over time. Principal Investigator: Carrie Meyer, EdD, AT