Use of sport-related concussion information sources among parents of United States middle school children

• Published in: Journal of sport and health science 2022-11, Vol.11 (6), p.716-724
• Main Authors: Kerr, Zachary Yukio, Chandran, Avinash, Nedimyer, Aliza K., Rothschild, Allison E., Kay, Melissa C., Gildner, Paula, Byrd, K. Hunter, Haarbauer-Krupa, Juliet K, Register-Mihalik, Johna K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Child; Humans; Information seeking; Information Sources; Media use; Original; Parents; Schools; Sports; Traumatic brain injury
• ISSN: 2095-2546; 2213-2961
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jshs.2020.04.008

•Doctors and healthcare providers (49.9%) and other healthcare-related resources (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, WebMD) (37.8%) were common SRC-related information sources for parents of middle school-aged children.•Approximately one-third of parents (36.0%) did not report using doctors/healthcare providers or other healthcare-related resources for SRC-related information.•Many parents who had reported using doctors/healthcare providers and other healthcare-related resources for SRC-related information considered these sources to be “very”/“extremely” trustworthy (89.8% and 70.9%, respectively).•While 15.7% of respondents reported using blogs/social media for SRC-related information, less than one-half (40.6%) considered this source to be “very”/”extremely” trustworthy; 17.1% considered these sources to be “slightly”/“not at all” trustworthy. Parents may use various information sources to obtain information about sport-related concussions (SRC). This study examined SRC-related information sources used by parents of United States middle school children (age: 10–15 years). A panel of 1083 randomly selected U.S. residents, aged ≥18 years and identifying as parents of middle school children, completed an online questionnaire capturing parental and child characteristics, and utilization and perceived trustworthiness of various sources of SRC-related information. Multivariable logistic regression models identified factors associated with utilizing each source. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) excluding 1.00 were deemed significant. Doctors/healthcare providers (49.9%) and other healthcare-related resources (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, WebMD) (37.8%) were common SRC-related information sources; 64.0% of parents utilized ≥1 of these sources. Both sources were considered “very” or “extremely” trustworthy for SRC-related information among parents using these sources (doctors/healthcare providers: 89.8%; other healthcare-related resources: 70.9%). A 10-year increase in parental age was associated with higher odds of utilizing doctors/healthcare providers (adjusted odd ratio (ORadjusted) = 1.09, 95%CI: 1.02–1.16) and other healthcare-related resources (ORadjusted = 1.11, 95%CI: 1.03–1.19). The odds of utilizing doctors/healthcare providers (ORadjusted = 0.58, 95%CI: 0.40–0.84) and other healthcare-related resources (ORadjusted = 0.64, 95%CI: 0.44–0.93) were lower among parents whose middle school