An evaluation of an educational intervention for improving concussion knowledge among medical students

BACKGROUND: There are significant gaps in concussion education in the undergraduate medical curriculum, contributing to poor concussion management in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention for improving concussion knowledge among undergraduate medical students. METHODS: An interventional pre-post study was conducted wherein participants first completed a pre-survey, followed by a didactic lecture about concussions and two post-surveys; one assessing short-term knowledge retention (within 48 hours of the lecture delivery) and long-term knowledge retention (within 2 weeks of the lecture delivery). RESULTS: A one-way ANOVA showed a statistically significant difference in concussion knowledge scores between the three time points, F(2, 156) = 77.38, p < .001, with the mean score for the pre-lecture group being significantly lower than both the immediate and the two-week post-lecture groups (p < .001). There was no statistically significant difference between the immediate and two-week post-lecture groups (p = .975, 95% CI = [-.57, .68]), suggesting knowledge retention over time. CONCLUSION: The improvement in concussion knowledge scores following a didactic lecture demonstrates the importance of the inclusion of teaching time dedicated to concussion education, which may in turn, contribute to improvements in clinical care and patient satisfaction.