Effectiveness of the SLICE program for youth concussion education.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the effectiveness of the Sports Legacy Institute Community Educators (SLICE) curriculum for student-athletes on recognition and appropriate responses to concussions. DESIGN Prospective cohort study, level II. SETTING The SLICE concussion workshop. PARTICIPANTS All students ranging from 9 to 18 years (n = 636) taking the SLICE concussion education program. INTERVENTION The SLICE concussion education program featuring interactive demonstrations, discussion, and case studies of athletes delivered by medical students and others in health-related fields. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Evaluations assessing knowledge of concussion recognition and appropriate response were administered before and after participating in the SLICE concussion education program. RESULTS Students displayed significant improvements in absolute mean score on the concussion knowledge quiz between prepresentation and postpresentation (P < 0.0001). Significant improvements in mean score were observed among both male and female students within each age group. The proportion of students who passed the quiz increased from 34% prepresentation to 80% postpresentation (P < 0.0001). However, the percentage who passed the quiz postpresentation was significantly higher among female students compared with male students (P < 0.0001) and among students 13 years of age or older compared with students less than 13 years (P < 0.0001). Using multivariable logistic regression, we identified age group and gender as the most significant factors associated with passing the quiz postpresentation. CONCLUSION The SLICE program promotes effective learning and knowledge about concussion recognition and response among students ranging from 9 to 18 years. Lessons from the SLICE program may be broadly applicable to youth concussion education.