Body Checking Injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Ice Hockey: Findings From the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program 2009/10 to 2019/20.

Objective: To describe the epidemiology of body checking injuries in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's Ice Hockey.

Design: Secondary data analysis of historical cohort data.

Setting: A convenience sample of injuries in NCAA Men's Ice Hockey during the 2009/10 to 2019/20 academic years.

Patients or participants: NCAA student-athletes.

Independent variables: Event type, season, time loss, body part, diagnosis, player position, and mechanism.

Main outcome measures: This study examined injuries that occurred during practice or competition, regardless of time loss, reported to the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program. Injury counts, rates, and proportions were used. The injury rate and proportion ratios with 95% confidence intervals were also constructed. Three independent logistic regression models were constructed to examine differential odds of time loss (≥1 day; TL) injury and the 2 most common injuries, between body checking injuries and all other injuries.

Results: Overall, 1290 body checking injuries (rate = 1.59/1000 athlete-exposures) were reported during the study period. Most were attributed to the upper extremity (42%) or head/neck (27%). The competition injury rate generally decreased after 2012/13. After adjusting for covariates, odds of (1) a TL injury was lower and (2) an acromioclavicular sprain was higher among body checking injuries as compared with injuries attributed to all other activities. Odds of concussion was not associated with body checking injuries.

Conclusions: Body checking injuries were frequently attributed to the head/neck and upper extremities, and the rate of these injuries during competition appeared to be decreasing. Still, improvements in helmet and shoulder pad technology may further improve health and safety.