Award Date

5-1-2015

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences

First Committee Member

Karen Spears

Second Committee Member

Tedd Girouard

Third Committee Member

Michelle Samuel

Fourth Committee Member

Bradley Donohue

Number of Pages

89

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore student athletes’ perceived satisfaction of care from certified and licensed athletic trainers (ATC) and satisfaction of care between full time and graduate student ATCs at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (n=61). Studies identify satisfaction as a method to measure quality of care and its influence on many aspects of athletes’ success including health outcomes. This is the first study that evaluated multiple aspects of care including type and length of sport participation, academic class status, number of ATCs seen, primary ATC (graduate or full time), number of interactions with primary ATC, injury, domains (environment, knowledge, trust and communication), values (communication, trust, compassion, physical environment, knowledge/skills, relationship, availability, professionalism), and reason for interacting with ATC (personal reasons, prevention, injury evaluation, treatment/rehabilitation, and emergency care). The study used a 44 question online survey. The study showed that athletes were satisfied overall with the quality of care by full time and graduate ATCs. Seeking preventative care was the only factor that significantly increased satisfaction. The top 3 aspects that athletes valued most in an ATC in rank order were: 1) knowledge, 2) availability, and 3) communication. ATCs need to be aware of the factors and values that influence athletes’ satisfaction and adjust their care accordingly. Future studies are needed to evaluate additional variables and interaction between variables.

Keywords

Athletes; Athletic trainers; Patient satisfaction; Quality of care; Satisfaction

Disciplines

Health and Medical Administration | Kinesiology | Medicine and Health Sciences

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


Share

COinS