DRYDEN, D. M., L. H. FRANCESCUTTI, B. H. ROWE, J. C. SPENCE, and D. C. VOAKLANDER. Epidemiology of women's recreational ice hockey injuries. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 32, No. 8, pp. 1378-1383, 2000.
Introduction: Participation in ice hockey by women is increasing in many parts of North America; however, research into injuries and the patterns of injury among female players associated with this activity is limited.
Purpose: The purpose of this research was to examine the incidence and nature of injuries suffered by female recreational ice hockey players.
Methods: This prospective study followed 314 female players from 33 teams in Edmonton, Canada, during the 1997-1998 hockey season. Injury and game attendance data were collected using monthly telephone interviews throughout the season. Diagnostic information for individuals who received medical treatment was solicited from the attending health professional.
Results: A total of 102 players reported a total of 125 injuries for a rate 7.5 injuries/1000 player exposures. The anatomic region most often injured was the lower extremity (31.2%), and the most common diagnosis was sprain/strain (52.0%). The predominant injury mechanism was player contact, either as a result of collision with another player or a body check (40.0%). Of all injuries, 65.6% occurred during league games, 27.2% during play-off, tournament, or exhibition games, and 7.2% during practices. Although less than 1% of injuries resulted in hospitalization, 17.6% of injuries resulted in an absence from hockey of 8 or more days.
Conclusion: The diagnostic and anatomic distribution of injury in the women's hockey league was similar to that in leagues where full facial protection is mandatory. The observed injury rate was lower than the rates reported for male recreational and collegiate ice hockey players. Female recreational ice hockey players are at risk for injuries and further research is required to identify areas for injury prevention.
Women in North America have been playing organized ice hockey for over 100 years; however, in the past decade there has been rapid growth in number of female players who participate in this sport. In Canada, between 1987 and 1997, the number of registered female players increased by 250% (2). In the United States, the numbers increased by 260% between 1990 and 1995 (2). In 1996-1997, there were approximately 50,000 registered female ice hockey players in Canada and the United States. With the inclusion of women's ice hockey in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games and the concomitant publicity surrounding its inauguration as an Olympic sport, it has been suggested that over 220,000 women and girls in North America will be playing ice hockey by the year 2000 (2).
Ice hockey is a contact/collision sport that can be hazardous to its participants. Most research on hockey injuries has been conducted on male hockey players competing at minor (6,7,28), high school (13,26), collegiate (3,12,19,22), elite (18,21), and recreational (14,16,29,30) levels. It is not clear from the literature whether it is appropriate to generalize injury data from male to female players. Although it is generally accepted that injuries to athletes are sport specific and not gender specific (4), studies of team sports in which injuries to male and female players have been examined simultaneously suggest that substantial differences may exist in the frequency and nature of injuries suffered by female players (1,10,17,20,31).
Few studies have reported on injuries among female ice hockey players. A Finnish study reviewed injuries sustained by all ice hockey players registered with the national ice hockey association in 1990 and 1991 (16). The authors reported an injury rate of 67 injuries/1000 person-years of exposure for female players compared with 105 injuries/1000 person-years of exposure for male players. Information on anatomic location and types of injuries by gender was not provided. A Canadian study collected injury data from emergency department records over 1 yr in Kingston, Ontario (29). The injury rate for women was 11.9 injuries/1000 participant-hours, and for men was 5.9 injuries/1000 participant-hours. In this study, the lower extremity was the most common injury site for both women (38%) and men (25%). Contusion was the most common diagnosis for women (51%) and men (40%). Most injuries were caused by collisions: 22% for women and 25% for men. Researchers in Minnesota collected injury data at tournament games for girls aged eight to 14 yr and for boys aged 11-14 yr (8). The injury rate for the girls was 50.5 injuries/1000 player-hours, and 106.4 injuries/1000 player hours for boys. One hundred percent of injuries for girls (N = 4) were contusions caused by falling or being hit by a puck or stick. A further study of tournament data by the same authors found that the injury rate for girls peewee hockey (12-15 yr based on 4 injuries in total) was 50.5 injuries/1000 player-hours compared with 127.3 for male peewee (12-13 yr) and 85.5 for bantam (14-15 yr) players (24).
The objective of the present study was to examine the incidence and nature of injuries sustained by female recreational ice hockey players. The results will be compared with those of an earlier study of similar design that examined the incidence and nature of injuries suffered by male recreational ice hockey players (30).