Physician Concussion Knowledge and the Effect of Mailing the CDC’s “Heads Up” Toolkit

Abstract

Background. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “Heads Up” toolkit was designed to educate physicians about concussion, but it has not been well studied. This study proposed to evaluate the effect of receiving the toolkit on physician concussion knowledge. Methods. The authors obtained a sample of physicians from the American Medical Association masterfile and randomly selected half to be mailed the CDC’s “Heads Up” toolkit. All physicians were then sent a survey on concussion knowledge. Data were analyzed to evaluate the effect of the toolkit on concussion knowledge. Results. The survey was completed by 414 physicians (183 intervention, 231 control). There were no differences in general concussion knowledge between intervention and control groups, but physicians in the intervention group were significantly less likely to recommend next day return to play after a concussion (adjusted odds ratio = 0.31, 95% confidence interval = 0.12-0.76). Conclusions. Mailing the CDC’s “Heads Up” toolkit appears to affect physicians’ recommendations regarding returning to play after a concussion.