How Do Economic Variables Predict Access to Athletic Training Services?

Long, Ashley PhD, LAT, ATC
Scifers, James R. DScPT, LAT, ATC
Eilbacher, Craig EdD, LAT, ATC

From the Department of Family Medicine, Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, North Carolina (AL); the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (JRS); and the Department of Sport Studies, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina (CE).

The authors have no financial or proprietary interest in the materials presented herein.

Correspondence: Ashley Long, PhD, LAT, ATC, Department of Family Medicine, Carolinas HealthCare System, 2001 Vail Avenue, Suite 400B, Charlotte, NC 28707. E-mail: [email protected]

Received April 27, 2016

Accepted November 08, 2016

Athletic Training & Sports Health Care 9(2):p 64-70, March 01, 2017. | DOI: 10.3928/19425864-20170124-01

Purpose:

To investigate the availability of athletic training services to North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) member student-athletes and assess whether the county's economic health or the percentage of low-income students was a predictor of the presence of a full-time licensed athletic trainer.

Methods:

The authors contacted all NCHSSA member schools (N = 394). An official from each school was surveyed about the use of licensed athletic training services. Descriptive data were then compared to state and federal economic classifications.

Results:

Economically healthy counties are more likely to use licensed athletic trainers in high school athletics, but federal Title I school designation does not predict use of licensed athletic training services.

Conclusions:

County economic tier classification strongly predicts the use of a licensed athletic trainer. Similarly, economic distress is a well-documented barrier to accessing quality health care and affects access to a licensed athletic trainer. Understanding the obstacles to use of full-time athletic training services is necessary for decreasing disparities in athletic health care.

[Athletic Training & Sports Health Care. 2017;9(2):64–70.]