This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Age of checking introduction does not impact risk of injury, concussion in hockey players

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

The age at which checking is introduced in youth ice hockey does not appear to affect the overall risk of injury and concussion, according to an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The authors of the study noted, however, that introducing checking at the 11- to 12-year level may reduce the risk of injury resulting in more than 7 days of playing time lost for bantam ice hockey players ages 13 to 14 years old.

“These findings need to be interpreted in light of previous evidence of more than a threefold increased risk of concussion and all injury among players aged 11-12 years in a league where bodychecking is permitted,” the authors wrote.

The authors performed a prospective cohort study of hockey players aged 13 to 14 years old who were in the top 30% of divisions of play in their respective leagues. Nine hundred and ninety-five players on 68 teams in Alberta with players who had 2 years of checking experience by the bantam leagues were compared with 976 players from 62 bantam-league teams in Quebec with no checking experience.

According to the study results, the authors found 272 injuries with 51 concussions among bantam hockey players with 2 years checking experience, compared with 244 injuries with 49 concussions among bantam players without previous checking experience.

Though differences were limited in overall injury rates, the authors added that bantam players who had been checking for 2 years experienced a 33% reduction in risk of injuries resulting in more than 7 days of playing time lost over bantam players who had no prior checking experience.

“Policy regarding the age at which hockey players are introduced to bodychecking requires further consideration,” the authors wrote. “Consideration should be given also to the age at which a player is able to make an informed decision about playing under these conditions of increased risk, perhaps after they have finished a critical physical growth period that could be focused on skill development.”

Reference:

• Emery C, Kang J, Shrier I, et al. Risk of injury associated with bodychecking experience among youth hockey players. Can Med Assoc J. 2011. doi: CMAJ 10.1503/cmaj.101540
• www.cma.ca/cmaj

Follow OrthoSuperSite.com on Twitter