Injury types and frequency in Spanish inline hockey players

Abstract

Objective: To describe injury types and frequencies in Spanish inline hockey players.

Design: Descriptive epidemiological study.

Setting: Amateur inline hockey teams competing in Spanish leagues between 2010-2011 and 2016-2017 seasons.

Participants: 154 inline hockey players (aged 10-42 years).

Main outcome measurements: Injury incidence, body segment injured, injury mechanism and severity, type of injury, type of play at the time of injury, time of the season at time of injury, location on the rink at the time of injury, player position and use of protective equipment.

Results: 80 injuries were reported. More than twice as many injuries occurred during games (67.5%) as practice (32.5%). The most common body site injured was the ankle (20%). Fractures (28.7%), and sprains (26.3%) were the most common type of injury. Non-contact skating (23.7%), falls (18.7%), and player contact (18.7%) were the most common mechanism of injury. Ankle sprain (10%) was the most common body site-type injury. Severe injuries (≥29 days' time lost) occurred more often than mild to moderate injuries (<29 days' time lost).

Conclusions: The risk of severe injury for inline hockey players is high. Non-contact injuries such as skating and falls had a high incidence. The characteristics of inline skating surface, mechanics of inline skating and fatigue may be the cause of a significant amount of the lower extremity sprain injuries. Continued surveillance is warranted to evaluate inline hockey injury trends over time.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Injury; Inline hockey; Sport.