PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess perceived educational gaps and priorities pertaining to female athlete health and performance for female athletes and the multidisciplinary community that supports them. Additionally, we aimed to assess the differences in education priorities between groups of professions. 

 

METHODS: Attendees at the 6^th Biennial International Female Athlete Conference (in-person and virtual) were invited to participate in our cross-sectional survey. Participants were asked to rate the importance of 20 female athlete-specific educational topics on a 9-point Likert scale, with the option to write in additional topics/justifications. Participants also answered demographic questions. 189 attendees completed the survey, including 11 men and 178 women. 88.9% of respondents were white. The most well-represented occupation was that of athletic trainers (n=42), followed by students (n=29) and researchers (n=28).

Participants were grouped into the categories of “Clinical,” (physician, physician associate, nurse practitioner, registered nurse, physical therapist, mental health provider, and/or registered dietitian), “Research” (selected researcher), “Field” (coach, athlete, athletic trainer) or “Other.” Between-group differences were assessed with the Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by Wilcoxon rank sum when results were significant (using the nominal alpha= 0.05). False Discovery Rate (FDR) was used to adjust for multiple comparisons. Topic rankings from Likert scale-based questions were reported as mean ± standard deviation. 

 

RESULTS: The three highest ranking topics were: (1) How to communicate with female athletes about body image, regular menstrual cycles, and overall well-being (8.18 ± 1.23); (2) Screening, diagnosis, and management of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) (7.92 ± 1.34); and (3) How to improve screening, prevention, management, and communication about mental health and resilience in female athletes (7.80±1.46). The lowest ranking topics were the effects of gender-affirming care on sport performance in transgender athletes (6.63 ± 1.89), the impact of menopause on female athletes (6.65 ± 2.10), and training through pregnancy/postpartum (6.70 ± 2.12). Minimal between-participant group differences were noted for topic ratings. 

CONCLUSION: Topics to prioritize in future educational initiatives include REDs, communication strategies, and mental health. Additionally, the majority of our participants were white women, highlighting the homogeneity present in our audience and likely affecting our results. Future education and outreach initiatives should focus on reaching a more diverse audience (in terms of gender, profession, age, and ethnicity/race) to equip a broader population with the knowledge, tools and research to support female athletes’ health and performance. Educational priorities were similar between professions, highlighting the need for broadinterdisciplinary education.