Navigating uncertainty: exploring parents' knowledge of concussion management and neuropsychological baseline testing
Matthew Hagopian1, Michael P Jorgensen2, Hugo Lehmann1
1Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada.
Insights
Parents navigating youth sport concussions face uncertainty. While personal experience and policy offer guidance, their views on neuropsychological baseline testing (NBT) for concussion management are mixed, highlighting a need for clearer protocols.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sports Medicine
- Neuroscience
- Public Health
Background:
- Parents are crucial in preventing and managing youth sport concussions.
- Parents understand concussion severity but lack knowledge in management.
- Neuropsychological baseline testing (NBT) is increasingly used in youth sports for concussion management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore parents' perspectives and experiences with concussion management, focusing on NBT.
- To understand parental insights into the role and utility of NBT in youth sport concussion care.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study utilizing focus groups (N=11 parents).
- Protection Motivation Theory guided the research framework.
- Inductive Content Analysis was employed for data interpretation.
Main Results:
- A core theme of 'navigating uncertainty' emerged regarding concussion identification and recovery.
- Parents found some certainty through personal experience and existing concussion management policies.
- Parents expressed mixed reviews on NBT, acknowledging its potential for certainty but also voicing reservations about its practical usefulness.
Conclusions:
- Parental understanding of concussion management, including NBT, requires further development.
- Addressing parental uncertainty is key to improving youth concussion care.
- Implications for practice include enhancing parental education and clarifying the role of NBT in concussion protocols.
Introduction:
Parents play an important role in preventing and managing sport-related concussions among youth sport participants. Research indicates that parents understand the severity and consequences associated with the injury but gaps exist in their knowledge of its management. Neuropsychological baseline testing (NBT) is a modality that has gained interest in youth sport to purportedly better manage concussion injuries. Little is known about parents' perspectives on the use of NBT in the management process.
Methods:
The present qualitative study used Protection Motivation Theory as a guiding framework and employed focus groups (N = 2) with parents (N = 11) to gain insight into parents' perceptions and experiences with concussion management, specifically focusing on NBT.
Results:
Inductive Content Analysis developed a core theme of navigating uncertainty. Participants expressed uncertainty about the nature of concussion and its management process, where concussion was not always easy to identify, youth were not always reliable reporters, and there was no prescribed or proscribed path for recovery. Personal experience and concussion management policy provided participants with a degree of certainty in managing concussions. Participants gave NBT mixed reviews in potentially promoting greater certainty but also held reservations about its usefulness in concussion management.
Discussion:
We discuss findings relative to existing knowledge and theory in youth sport concussion and identify implications for practice.
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