Developing a concussion assessment mHealth app for certified Athletic Trainers

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Public Health
• Digital Health

Background:

• Millions of sports-related concussions occur annually in the US, posing significant health risks including prolonged symptoms, increased injury risk, and potential mortality.
• Certified Athletic Trainers (ATCs) are crucial for concussion assessment and treatment, but their availability is limited, especially in rural areas.
• Misconceptions about concussions among coaches and athletes further necessitate improved access to expert care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a telemedicine application to extend concussion care services to underserved rural student athletes.
• To address the challenge of limited Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) availability in rural settings through mobile health (mHealth) technology.
• To document the development process, including contextual inquiry, user requirements, design, and evaluation of the mHealth app.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the mHealth development roadmap from the Center for eHealth Research (CeHRes).
• Conducted contextual inquiry and user requirements capture with the target user base.
• Documented the design phases and app evaluation involving end-users.

Main Results:

• The study outlines the systematic design and development process for a telemedicine concussion management app.
• User-centered design principles were applied through contextual inquiry and requirement gathering.
• The proposed app aims to bridge the gap in concussion care access for rural athletes.

Conclusions:

• A telemedicine app, developed using the CeHRes roadmap, can significantly improve access to concussion assessment and treatment for rural student athletes.
• This mHealth approach addresses critical limitations in ATC availability and knowledge gaps in youth sports.
• The documented development process provides a framework for future mHealth interventions in sports medicine.