Collegiate student-athletes concussion knowledge and attitudes: what a difference a decade Makes

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess changes in concussion knowledge and attitudes amongst incoming intercollegiate student-athletes over the course of a decade (2010–2012 vs 2021–2023). Methods: There were 592 student-athletes from 2 cohorts (2010–2012, 2021–2023) who completed the Rosenbaum Concussion Knowledge and Attitudes Survey (ROCKaS) questionnaire which is comprised of a concussion knowledge index (CKI, 0–24) and attitude index (CAI, 15–75) with higher scores reflecting better performance. A three factor ANOVA (Group, Sex, Concussion History) compared performance on the CKI and CAI. Individual questions were compared between groups with a Chi-Square analysis. Results: For the CKI, there was a significant main effect for Group (2010–2012: 18.5 ± 2.6, 2021–2023: 19.4 ± 2.5, p < 0.001, (Formula presented.). For the CAI, there was also a significant main effect for group (2010–2012: 52.9 ± 6.0, 2021–2023: 62.2 ± 6.5, p < 0.001, (Formula presented.). Conclusions: The results of this study show a modest increase in concussion knowledge; however, large improvements in concussion attitudes were observed between groups. These results suggest a continued improvement in student-athlete concussion awareness and provide specific areas to continue addressing persistent misconceptions.