Women and Men National Collegiate Athletic Association Ice Hockey Players Were Similarly Likely to Suffer Lumbar Spine Injuries

Anna S Jenkins; Jordan R Pollock; Sailesh V Tummala; Joseph C Brinkman; Merritt C Kropelnicki; Justin L Makovicka; Jeffrey D Hassebrock; Anikar Chhabra

doi:10.1016/j.asmr.2021.09.016

Women and Men National Collegiate Athletic Association Ice Hockey Players Were Similarly Likely to Suffer Lumbar Spine Injuries

Arthrosc Sports Med Rehabil. 2021 Oct 29;3(6):e1945-e1953. doi: 10.1016/j.asmr.2021.09.016. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Authors

Anna S Jenkins¹, Jordan R Pollock¹, Sailesh V Tummala², Joseph C Brinkman², Merritt C Kropelnicki³, Justin L Makovicka¹, Jeffrey D Hassebrock², Anikar Chhabra²

Affiliations

¹ Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.A.
² Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A.
³ UT Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.

Abstract

Purpose: To describe and compare the epidemiology of lumbar spine injuries (LSIs) in women's and men's ice hockey during the 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 academic years and to investigate sex-specific differences, using data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) database.

Methods: The incidence and characteristics of LSIs were identified utilizing the NCAA ISP. Rates of injury were calculated as number of injuries divided by total number of athlete exposures (AEs). AEs were defined as any student participation in one NCAA-sanctioned practice or competition. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were calculated to compare rates of injury between season, event type, mechanism, injury recurrence, and time lost from sport, and injury proportion ratios (IPRs) were calculated to examine the differences in injury rates between men and women.

Results: There were a total of 165 LSIs from an average of 10 and 19 women's and men's teams, respectively, calculated to 1,254 LSIs nationally. Women were 2.48 times more likely to suffer a noncontact injury than men (95% CI: 1.33-4.61), whereas men were more likely than women to suffer contact LSIs (IPR: .51 [95% CI: .28-.92]). In Divisions II and III, women were 6.64 (95% CI: 4.14-10.64) and 1.28 (95% CI: 1.12-1.46) times more likely to suffer LSIs than men, respectively.

Conclusions: Women and men were similarly likely to suffer an LSI, but sex-specific differences existed in a mechanism of injury and likelihood of injury within NCAA Divisions.

Keywords: NCAA; ice hockey; injury; lumbar spine.