400 Section - Assessing the Understanding of Neurological Conditions in Young Adults and Leveraging Media Outlets and Social Media Platforms for Neurology Awareness
3rd Year Medical Student University of Hawaii John A Burns School of Medicine Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Objectives : Concussion, a mild traumatic brain injury subtype, is typically caused by direct or indirect head trauma, resulting in transient neurological dysfunction. Concussion incidence is rising amongst young adults nationally, with concerns of underreporting and inadequate health knowledge. Young adults are frequent users of social media, which may serve as a source for their health education or misinformation. This study evaluated concussion knowledge, health-related attitudes, and the overall influence of social media among young adults.
Design: A cross-sectional survey was distributed electronically and in person to undergraduate and graduate students meeting age and education criteria. Variables included demographics, concussion education, prior diagnosis, symptom history, attitudes toward reporting to healthcare professionals, and perceived social media reliability. Analyses compared Athletes vs. Non-Athletes, Health/Natural/Behavioral science (HNB) majors vs. non-HNB majors, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) participants vs. matched Caucasian peers.
Results: Among 202 respondents, athletes reported significantly higher rates of formal concussion education (p < 0.000001), prior diagnosis (p = 0.003), and symptom history (p = 0.0026) but were less likely to report concussions (p = 0.022). Athletes, HNB majors, and NHOPI participants trended toward lower trust in social media for concussion information, though differences were not statistically significant. Reddit, Instagram, and Twitter users had higher mean concussion knowledge scores than users of other platforms, without significance. No significant differences were found between NHOPI and matched Caucasian participants.
Conclusion: Athletes demonstrated greater concussion exposure and knowledge, yet reported symptoms less frequently, indicating persistent underreporting despite more education. These findings underscore the need for targeted educational strategies to address reporting barriers and to elucidate why they exist. Further research should evaluate how to leverage platform-specific social media approaches to improve concussion awareness while reducing misinformation.
