Advances in Concussion Education: Contextual Procedure-based Learning Enhances Concussion Reporting

Abstract

This study compared concussion reporting behaviors of collegiate student-athletes who received traditional concussion education with those who also received a contextual procedural learning (CPL) approach. The traditional learning (TL) group received concussion education in the fall semester of 2015 in a classroom setting that included lecture, hand-outs and viewing a video (n = 176), and the CPL group (n = 152) received CPL education as well as the TL education in fall of 2016. Sports medicine charts were reviewed for the 30 participants who reported concussion across both groups. A higher percentage of participants reported concussion in the CPL group (p ≤ .05), and the CPL group was more likely to report a concussion (p ≤ .05). The CPL group also reported concussion in 1.98 less days than the TL group (p ≤ .05). A CPL approach to concussion education may positively influence reporting and reduce time to report when compared to a more traditional lecture-based approach to concussion education.