More than 1 million youth sustain a sport-related concussion (SRC) each year. The middle school age range is particularly concerning because it is a time when children have both a unique susceptibility to brain injury and high participation rates in organized sports with concussion risk, such as soccer and football. There are two avenues to decrease concussion risk: (1) minimizing the number and force of collisions to decrease concussion incidence (primary prevention) and (2) improving concussion identification to decrease morbidity (secondary prevention). The goal of this study is to utilize Pre-Game Safety Huddles to discuss sportsmanship (primary prevention) and concussion reporting (secondary prevention) with a goal of improving concussion safety.
To assess the efficacy of Pre-Game Safety Huddles as a tool for injury prevention, we will conduct a Randomized controlled trial with youth sport teams. We will recruit leagues in the Seattle area (girls' soccer, boys' soccer and football) and randomize them to either intervention or control. Coaches in the intervention group will then be trained to lead Pre-Game Safety Huddles before each game over the course of the season (9-12 weeks). Youth and coaches will be surveyed at three time points and data will be analyzed to determine impact of the intervention on two outcomes: 1) expectations regarding reporting concussive symptoms (CR-E) and 2) expectations regarding engaging in potentially injurious play (IP-E).
