An assessment of the level knowledge on brain concussion signs and symptoms and safe return to play in high school first team soccer players in Harare, Zimbabwe during the 2017 season.

Abstract

Concussion is a very common form of mild traumatic brain injury. It may occur with head to head or head to ball collision most common in contact sports. Soccer is the most popular contact sport in Zimbabwe with over 90% of high schools participating. Level of knowledge on concussion signs, symptoms and return to safe play has been postulated to be associated with some different demographic factors such as school’s categorization and sex. The level of knowledge on brain concussion in High school first team soccer players in Harare, Zimbabwe is unknown. Objectives: To evaluate high school first team soccer players’ concussion knowledge on signs, symptoms and safe return to play among children from different school classification categories in Harare, Zimbabwe in 2017.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out on different school categories based on the per-capita grant in accordance with the Zimbabwe Ministry of Education’s Annual Statistical Report of 2013.S1 schools are the elite schools which include private schools whilst S2 are found in high density suburbs. S3 schools are found in rural areas. This follows a randomization of participants (n=881) who were divided into S1 (n=451), S2 (n=343) and S3 (n=82) categories. A self-administered modified RoCKAS-ST questionnaire was used to evaluate the concussion and safe return to play knowledge among participants under supervision.

Data analysis: Data was analyzed using Statistical package for Social Scientist (SPSS) version 16. 0. Descriptive statistical analysis was carried out using Z test for proportions, for testing the differences in proportions between the groups. Student‘s t-test for independent groups was used to check relationships on continuous variables while categorical variables were expressed as percentages and frequencies , and compared using the Chi-square test to compute a p-value. Logistic regressions was used to estimate odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals for the risk factors. Results were presented as means ± SEM, and comparisons between multiple groups will be made using ANOVA. All statistical tests were considered statistically significant if p< 0.05.

Results: A minority of high school soccer players (2%) demonstrated adequate concussion knowledge on signs, symptoms and safe return to play. Females were significantly more knowledgeable than their male counterparts (p=0.01). There was no difference in knowledge scores among S1, S2 and S3 schools (p=0,812). The most popular concussion source of information were teachers (55.6 %).

Conclusion: The majority of high school first team soccer players in Harare, Zimbabwe lack adequate knowledge on signs, symptoms and safe return to play post-concussion. Loss of consciousness is the most correctly recognized sign in 61% of participants. The majority of players have a misconception on the importance of mental rest. Teachers remain pivotal on concussion knowledge transfer. There is no difference in concussion knowledge level among S1, S2 and S3 schools.