Lower limb injuries and concussions dominate in collegiate women's ice hockey: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This review aimed to provide a pooled estimate of injury incidence and epidemiology in women's ice hockey.

A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted by searching PubMed and Scopus in August 2024, including only reports published in English. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines, and the PRISMA checklist was used. Observational studies reporting injury incidence in women's ice hockey based on exposure time were included. Reviews, editorials and commentaries were excluded. A random-effects model calculated pooled injury incidences per 1000 athlete exposures (AEs), with separate analyses for games, practices, injury locations and types. The risk of bias was evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence Studies.

Of 510 records screened, 18 reports conducted in North America were included, with six reports contributing to the analysis. These reports reported a total of 3365 injuries and 719 010 AEs, yielding an overall injury incidence of 5.21 injuries per 1000 AEs. Injury rates were higher during games (10.10 per 1000 AEs) compared with practices (3.11 per 1000 AEs). Lower limb injuries were the most frequent (0.57 per 1000 AEs), while concussions or traumatic brain injuries were the most common injury types (0.54 per 1000 AEs).

The overall injury incidence in collegiate-level women's ice hockey is considerable, with lower limb injuries being the most common injury location and concussions the most frequent injury type. This review establishes a baseline for injury patterns in women's collegiate ice hockey prior to the potential legalisation of body checking in all levels of women's ice hockey, offering valuable insights for future research and the development of targeted injury prevention strategies.

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024590497.