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.