Investigating Concussion Knowledge in US Born Versus Internationally Born Collegiate Student-Athletes in the United States

Objective: To compare concussion knowledge between US born and internationally born collegiate student-athletes. Furthermore, to investigate whether length of time in the United States impacted concussion knowledge. Design: Survey. Setting: Preparticipation physicals at a midwestern NAIA college. Participants: Three hundred one collegiate student-athletes. Interventions: Demographic questionnaire and the Rosenbaum Concussion Knowledge and Attitudes Survey (RoCKAS). Main Outcome Measures: t test was used to determine whether a difference in Concussion Knowledge Index (CKI) scores exists between US born and internationally born student-athletes. A one-way analysis of variance was used to determine significance for length of time in the United States. Results: A statistically significant difference was found for CKI scores between US born (19.22 +/- 2.38) and internationally born student-athletes (18.01 +/- 2.57) (t = 3.895, P = 0.000). Analysis of variance demonstrated statistically significant difference for CKI scores (F-2,F-300 = 13.883, P = 0.001). Post hoc analysis found significant differences in CKI scores between US born (19.22 +/- 2.38) and internationally born student-athletes in the United States less than 2 years (17.31 +/- 2.52) (P = 0.000), and between internationally born student-athletes in the United States 2 or more years (19.15 +/- 2.25) and internationally born student-athletes in the United States less than 2 years (17.31 +/- 2.52) (P = 0.002). Conclusion: Among this sample, being born in the United States and length of time in the United States contribute to student-athletes' concussion knowledge.

Automated summary

The study compared concussion knowledge between US born and internationally born collegiate student-athletes, finding that place of birth and length of time in the United States contribute to student-athletes' concussion knowledge.