The Epidemiology of Overuse Injuries in Ice Hockey: An Analysis from 29 Seasons in the Swedish Elite League

Johan Jonsson¹, Mattias Jonsson¹ and Yelverton Tegner²*

Received: January 29, 2019;   Published:February 07, 2019

DOI: 10.32474/OSMOAJ.2019.02.000143

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Abstract

Background: An overuse injury is considered to be the result of iterated micro trauma or monotonous movements. Sports related to monotonous and repetitive movements have a high amount of overuse injuries. Ice hockey with its complexity of movements makes the player exposed to overuse injuries. The aim of this study was to analyze overuse injuries, and to study the long-term injury panorama. It is the first and essential step to obtain an injury-prevention method. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiological study.

Method: Data from an elite ice hockey team was prospectively collected from 29 seasons. The definition of an overuse injury was a gradual onset injury caused by repeated micro trauma without a single identifiable event responsible for that injury and which resulted in absence from ice hockey.

Result: 315 overuse injuries were registered and accounted for 16.2% of all injury registrations. An overuse injury led on average to 1.8 missed games, 6.5 missed training sessions and 8.4 days of absence. August and September were the most injury months for an injury, with a total of 38.7% of the events. The most affected body region was the hip and groin, as 67.3% of all overuse injuries arose there. The second and third most affected body regions were the back and the knee respectively.

Conclusion: The present study reports that overuse injuries are a relevant problem. Primarily hip and groin are frequently affected. The beginning of the on-ice season has shown to be the most vulnerable period.

Keywords:Overuse Injuries; Ice Hockey; Hip; Groin; Back; Knee

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