Policies, Procedures, and Practices Regarding Sport-Related Concussion in Community College Athletes.

CONTEXT

College sport organizations and associations endorse concussion-management protocols and policies. To date, little information is available on concussion policies and practices at community college institutions.

OBJECTIVE

To assess and describe current practices and policies regarding the assessment, management, and return-to-play criteria for sport-related concussion (SRC) among member institutions of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA).

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Web-based survey.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS

A total of 55 head athletic trainers (ATs) at CCCAA institutions.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Data about policies, procedures, and practices regarding SRC were collected over a 3-week period in March 2012 and analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Fisher exact test, and the Spearman test.

RESULTS

Almost half (47%) of ATs stated they had a policy for SRC assessment, management, and return to play at their institution. They reported being in compliance with baseline testing guidelines (25%), management guidelines (34.5%), and return-to-play guidelines (30%). Nearly 31% of ATs described having an SRC policy in place for academic accommodations. Conference attendance was positively correlated with institutional use of academic accommodations after SRC (r = 0.44, P = .01). The number of meetings ATs attended and their use of baseline testing were also positively correlated (r = 0.38, P = .01).

CONCLUSIONS

At the time of this study, nearly half of CCCAA institutions had concussion policies and 31% had academic-accommodation policies. However, only 18% of ATs at CCCAA institutions were in compliance with all of their concussion policies. Our findings demonstrate improvements in the management of SRCs by ATs at California community colleges compared with previous research but a need for better compliance with SRC policies.