Abstract

Introduction: In 2013, Michigan enacted legislation requiring parents and athletes to receive educational material on Sport-Related Concussion (SRC). The aim of this study was to follow trends in concussion knowledge of parents from one community following implementation of Michigan’s Sports Concussion Laws (MSCL).

Methods: Parents of students from a suburban school district were surveyed via district email at 1 year and 5 years post-implementation of MSCL. Results were compared to a survey obtained prior to the law. Individual questions were compared between the three surveys by Chi-square analysis with significance at p<0.05.

Results: A total of 381 responses were obtained in the 1-year post-MSCL (1yMSCL) and 178 in the 5 year post-MSCL (5yMSCL) survey. Awareness of district policy regarding concussion was much higher after implementation of the law (77% at 1yMSCL and 71% at 5yMSCL) compared to prior (18% pre-MSCL, p<0.0001). As the law matured, parental knowledge improved. Respondents to the 5yMSCL survey were more aware of medical guidelines surrounding “return to play” after SRC compared to 1yMSCL (84.8% v 78.7%, p=0.01). At 5yMSCL, more respondents agreed that head injury can cause more brain damage to children than adults (86.5% v 78.7% at 1yMSCL, p=0.03). Lastly, parents continued to rate the concussion educational material as the most helpful information source on SRC.

Conclusion: Since implementation of MSCL, parental knowledge increased in awareness of medical guidelines for SRC and potential brain damage risks to children. This increase may be in part from maturation of policy changes from MSCL.

Keywords: Concussion; Sports; Youth; Athletics; Traumatic brain injury; Parental attitudes

Abbreviations: NFL: National Football League; MTBI: Mild Traumatic Brain Injury; CTE: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy; MSCL: Michigan’s Sport Concussion Law