Traumatic Brain Injury Research Peer reviewed

Understanding Australian community members’ knowledge of concussion: a cross-sectional nationwide survey

Sara L. Whittaker, Aleksandra K. Gozt, Lisa Licciardi, Naomi Fuller and 3 more

Australian Health Review | Aug 27, 2026

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What this paper is about

Evidence is provided that Australian community members can generally identify the correct causes of concussion, but that common concussion misconceptions still exist, and future targeted concussion education for the community, potentially involving primary care providers.

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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to establish current Australian community knowledge of: (i) mechanisms of concussion injury; (ii) concussion signs and symptoms; (iii) concussion response and management; (iv) pathways of seeking help for a suspected concussion; (v) recovery journey after sustaining a concussion; and (vi) community misbeliefs about concussion. METHODS: An online survey measured current knowledge of concussion held by the Australian community (≥18 years). Convenience sampling was used for national data collection. Quantitative methodologies were used, with thematic analysis applied to qualitative data. RESULTS: A total of 230 participants completed the survey, of which 168 (73%) were female. Most participants (n = 169/230, 74%) identified mechanisms of concussion injury; less than half of participants (n = 99/230, 43%) identified all the symptoms indicative of a person requiring immediate medical attention for a suspected concussion ( 80% of participants correctly responded to ≥10. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that Australian community members can generally identify the correct causes of concussion, but that common concussion misconceptions still exist. Future targeted concussion education for the community, potentially involving primary care providers (e.g. general practitioners), include symptom identification, when immediate medical attention is required following a suspected concussion, expected recovery time and the appropriate period for ongoing monitoring.

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Authors

Researchers on this paper

Sara L. Whittaker

first | Primary Health Care | ORCID 0000-0001-7002-185X

Aleksandra K. Gozt

middle | Allen Institute for Brain Science

Lisa Licciardi

middle | Primary Health Care | ORCID 0000-0001-7707-5762

Naomi Fuller

middle | Allen Institute for Brain Science

Melinda Fitzgerald

middle | Curtin University | ORCID 0000-0002-4823-8179

Shenane Hogg

middle | Allen Institute for Brain Science

Natasha K. Brusco

last | Primary Health Care

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Citation

BibTeX

@article{Whittaker2026Understanding,
  title = {Understanding Australian community members’ knowledge of concussion: a cross-sectional nationwide survey},
  author = {Sara L. Whittaker and Aleksandra K. Gozt and Lisa Licciardi and Naomi Fuller and Melinda Fitzgerald and Shenane Hogg and Natasha K. Brusco},
  journal = {Australian Health Review},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1071/ah26055},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1071/ah26055}
}

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