INJURIES IN YOUTH ICE HOCKEY - A PILOT SURVEILLANCE STRATEGY

Objective: To determine the incidence and type of injuries in youth ho ckey players during practice and games as well as to test the applicab ility of the current methods to a national surveillance study of youth hockey injuries. Design: During the 1993 to 1994 season, we undertook a prospective observational analysis of youth hockey players on four competitive teams at three levels of participation: Squirt, Peewee, an d Bantam. Material and Methods: In a study group of 66 youth hockey pl ayers, types and anatomic sites of injury, mechanisms of injury, playe r position affected, and occurrence of injuries during practice or gam es were determined and analyzed statistically, An injury was strictly defined, standardized reporting strategies were used, and a single phy sician examined all injured athletes and made the diagnoses. Results: A total of 14 injuries occurred during the season, The on-ice injury r ate (per 1,000 player-hours) was 1.0 at the Squirt level (ages 9 and 1 0 years), 1.8 at the Peewee level (ages 11 and 12 years), and 4.3 at t he Bantam level (ages 13 and 14 years). No game injuries and only one mild practice injury occurred in Squirt players (N = 16), and only two mild injuries occurred during practice sessions for Peewees (N = 17), No differences were noted between practice injury rates at the variou s levels; all recorded game injuries occurred only in Bantam players ( N = 33), The most common types of injuries were contusions, fractures, strains, and sprains, The arm and shoulder were most frequently injur ed. Conclusion: Further research is necessary to determine whether inj uries in youth ice hockey can be reduced by changes in playing rules, enforcement of existing rules, improvements in protective equipment, a lteration in coaching techniques, and institution of educational progr ams.