Outcomes and applications from CDC's educational concussion tool kit for high school athletic coaches

Approximately 1.6-3.8 million sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) occur in the U.S. each year, and teenagers are one of the groups at highest risk. In order to address this need, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created and distributed a national TBI education and awareness tool kit, Heads Up: Concussion in High School Sports, directed toward high school athletic coaches. This tool kit includes information to help coaches prevent, recognize, and respond to sports-related concussions. In September 2005, more than 30,000 tool kits were distributed in a national launch. Mail surveys were used to compare concussion prevention attitudes and behaviors among participants who had been sent the tool kit materials (i.e., exposed group; n = 437) and those who had not yet been sent the tool kit materials (i.e., control group; n = 136). Survey results showed that coaches exposed to the tool kit were significantly more likely than those in the control group to educate athletes, athletes' parents and other coaches about preventing or managing sports-related concussions. As a follow-up to the survey, 6 focus groups were conducted with participants in the exposed group to elucidate differences and similarities between coaches who were high or low implementers of the tool kit. This study is particularly important given that this project represents the first time a federal agency has developed and nationally disseminated a concussion tool kit for high school coaches. These findings will help to inform future TBI educational efforts and concussion-related materials.