Concussion knowledge among rehabilitation staff

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Study developed, administered, and analyzed the results of a survey assessing knowledge about concussion diagnosis, treatment, and expected recovery among rehabilitation staff across inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation settings along with sports care clinics. The questions were structured to reflect key areas of concussion knowledge targeted in a prior consensus statement. The survey was completed by 561 rehabilitation professionals across a wide range of disciplines in a nationwide rehabilitation hospital system. A large portion of the respondents were physical therapists and athletic trainers. Common misperceptions about concussion requiring loss of consciousness, contact to the head, and symptom onset immediately after concussion were not endorsed by most participants. The vast majority of staff provided responses consistent with the current concussion literature regarding concussion diagnosis and symptom presentation immediately after concussion. Greater variability was seen for items assessing beliefs about the typical recovery from concussion, best care practices, and long-term effects from concussion. Factors such as profession, years of experience, and work with concussion or traumatic brain injury were not consistently related to better performance on the survey. Prior concussion-focused education/training was related to better survey performance. This survey highlights the pressing need to educate frontline health providers regarding concussion recovery and best care practices.

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