Published online February 1, 2006
PEDIATRICS Vol. 117 No. 2 February 2006, pp. e143-e147 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-1163)

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) An erratum has been published Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Macpherson, A. Articles by Howard, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Macpherson, A. Articles by Howard, A. Related Collections Office Practice Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Body-Checking Rules and Childhood Injuries in Ice Hockey

Alison Macpherson, PhD^a,b, Linda Rothman, BScOT, MHSc^c,d and Andrew Howard, MD, MSc, FRCSC^c,d

^a School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
^b Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
^c Population Health Sciences
^d Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

BACKGROUND. Body checking is the predominant mechanism of youth ice hockey injuries. The Canadian Hockey Association has allowed body checking from ages 12 to 13 (peewee level) and up. One Canadian province (Ontario) introduced body checking at ages 10 to 11 (atom level) in the competitive leagues, whereas in Quebec body checking has only been allowed at ages 14 to 15 (bantam Level). The purpose of this study was to compare body-checking injuries, fractures, and concussions in boys' minor hockey between jurisdictions in which checking is allowed and jurisdictions in which body checking is not allowed.

METHODS. Data from the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP) were used to characterize children's ice hockey injuries from September 1995 to the end of August 2002. Children treated at CHIRPP hospitals in areas in which checking was allowed were compared with children in areas in which checking was not allowed.

RESULTS. Of the 4736 hockey injuries, 3006 (63%) were in Ontario and 1730 (37%) were in Quebec. Most of the injuries occurred in areas in which checking was allowed (2824 [59.6%]). At ages 10 to 13, players had significantly greater odds of suffering a checking injury where checking was allowed (odds ratio [OR]: 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6–2.11). Players in this age group were also more likely to suffer a concussion (OR: 1.42; 95% CI: 0.98–2.05) or fracture (OR: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.06–1.47) where checking was allowed. Among older players, when checking was allowed in both provinces, there were higher odds (OR: 1.90; 95% CI: 1.36–2.66) of receiving a checking injury in the province that had introduced checking at a younger age, suggesting that there is no protective effect from learning to check earlier.

CONCLUSIONS. Increased injuries attributable to checking were observed where checking was allowed. This study supports policies that disallow body checking to reduce ice hockey injuries in children.

---

Key Words: sports • hockey • body-checking rules

Abbreviations: CHIRPP—Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program • OR—odds ratio • CI—confidence interval

---

Accepted Aug 19, 2005.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. A. Emery and W. H. Meeuwisse Injury Rates, Risk Factors, and Mechanisms of Injury in Minor Hockey Am. J. Sports Med., December 1, 2006; 34(12): 1960 - 1969. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]