Justification for Change

Proposed Modifications to OMB No. 0920-0811

Background

Each year, an estimated 1.4 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI). A TBI is caused by a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Children ages 0 to 4 years and adolescents ages 15-19 are at the greatest risk of sustaining a TBI, as they often sustain TBIs from a host of mechanisms including falls (down stairs or from heights such as counter tops or beds), direct impacts (e.g., getting hit in the head with a ball), and motor vehicle crashes.

In order to address this important public health problem among young children and adolescents, CDC plans to conduct a national TBI educational initiative aimed at school professionals. As part of the initiative, CDC will develop educational materials and messages for these audiences, as well as tools for partners, to help improve the prevention, recognition, and management of TBI among school-aged children and adolescents.

Proposed Modification to Collections of Information – Change of Audiences

OMB Clearance No. 0920-0811 approves the use of up to 45 interviews with school nurses, school counselors, school psychologists, and school administrators. CDC would like to change the audiences to school nurses, school counselors, school administrators, and school teachers. Specifically, CDC would like to replace psychologists with teachers. Interviewers will use the moderator’s guide that was designed for nurses, counselors, and psychologists with teachers. Please see the revised screener instrument and moderator’s guide that reflects this change.

This modification is requested because CDC has learned additional information about school systems since the original OMB clearance package was submitted. School psychologists are fewer in number and are not always onsite in the school setting. School psychologists will still receive the materials and can benefit from them in their work; however they are not a main focus of this effort. In contrast, teachers are highly involved with students and are an important audience for these materials.

CDC would like to include teachers as an audience for the formative research. Teachers are often the first to respond when students hit their heads in the classroom. They know their students very well and can be the first to observe when a student is not acting like him or herself. Given the significant role they play in students' lives, teachers need to be aware of concussions and the importance of recognizing a concussion when one occurs. Teachers reported that they lack information about concussion, particularly the signs and symptoms of concussion. Teachers noted that this is not a topic that is generally discussed with them, but one that they view as critical to their work with students.

Burden Hours

This modification does not request a change to burden hours.

Annualized Respondent Costs

This modification decreases the total annualized respondent costs. As school psychologists (hourly wage rate: $29.91) will be replaced with school teachers (average hour wage rate for elementary, middle, and high school teachers: $25.51), the annual respondent cost will be decreased by $40.00 ($29.91 X 10 burden hours - $25.51 X 10 burden hours = $40.00).