Concussions in International Ice Hockey Championships and Olympic Winter Games Between 2006 and 2015

Abstract

ObjectiveTo describe the occurrence and trend of concussions during the international ice hockey tournaments.DesignRegister study.SettingThe International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships and Olympic Winter Games.ParticipantsA total of 3293 games were played in the 169 tournaments by 1212 teams (26130 players) comprising 142244 athletic game exposures.Outcome measuresOne hundred and sixty concussions were observed.Main ResultsThe average injury rate (IR) for concussion was 1.1 per 1000 ice hockey player-games for all IIHF World Championship tournaments (WC). The injury rate was highest in men's WC A-pool tournaments and Olympic Winter Games (OWG) (IR 1.6), and lowest in women's WC and OWG (IR 0.9). However, the annual injury rate for concussion in men's tournament has been lower than that in World Junior tournaments since 2012. When concussion occurred in a contact with a flexible board injury rate was 0.2 per 1,000 player games and 1.1 if a board and glass were traditional [RR 6.4, (95% CI 1.50–27.61]. In men's tournaments the trend of concussions caused by illegal hits decreased over a study period. After the 2012 Zurich Consensus Guidelines none of the concussed players returned to a play during a same day in men's WC tournaments.ConclusionsThe risk of concussion was significantly lower if games were played on rinks with flexible board and glass. Between 2006 and 2015, the annual risk of concussion in men's WC has been decreasing most likely due to the decreasing number of concussions caused by illegal hits.

A study of visual attention patterns of snow and ice athletes based on eye-tracking technology

“…Ice and snow sports refer to the sports that rely on snow and ice in the cold of nature (usually conducted in the cold winter, when the temperature is generally below 0 degrees Celsius) [1][2][3]. Ice and snow sports professional training with basic theoretical knowledge of ice and snow sports and outstanding special sports skills can be at all levels of professional or vocational teams, sports schools, and school teams, sports clubs, and other related units, engaged in ice and snow sports training, teaching, competitions, and venue operation and management, rich in the international vision, innovative spirit of the high-quality application of talent [4][5].…”