Epidemiology of Injuries in Elite Female Ice Hockey Players Allowed Body Checking: A Two-Year Prospective Cohort...

In 2022, the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) became the first women's league in the world to allow body checking. This study examines injury epidemiology in SDHL 2 years after this policy change. Injuries resulting in time loss from training or games were recorded in a digital injury-reporting system. This study utilizes game-related injuries that occurred during the seasons 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 in SDHL to examine injury epidemiology. Overall, 46 game-related injuries were reported. The game injury rate (IR) was 17.2 (12.6-23.0) per 1000 player-hours. Body checking was the most common individual injury mechanism (n = 9; 20%) and concussions were the most frequent injury type, accounting for all head injuries (IR: 3.7 (1.8-6.9), n = 10; 22%). Most commonly, injuries occurred in the third period (n = 21; 46%), where nine of them occurred within the final six minutes of the game. Of all concussions (n = 10; 22%), six occurred in the third period. In 17 (37%) of all injuries and in five of 10 (50%) concussion events, the player continued to play despite sustaining an injury. This descriptive study is the first to examine injury epidemiology in elite women's ice hockey permitting body checking. Although concussions were the most common injury type, most commonly attributed to body checking, the results should be interpreted cautiously due to a limited number of injuries, estimated exposure, the absence of a comparator cohort, and incomplete reporting. The findings highlight the importance of injury surveillance strategies when introducing body checking in women's ice hockey.