Sportsmanship minimizes ice hockey injuries

By Lauretta Ihonor, medwireNews reporter

Banning bodychecking in youth ice hockey games may reduce game-related injury rates and increase overall player safety, systematic review findings show.

"Other interventions, including the Fair Play Program, educational interventions, and cognitive behavioral modification, had positive effects on reducing aggressive acts; however, more research is needed to determine whether these approaches reduce injury rates on their own," say the authors.

The findings arise from an evaluation of 13 studies designed to assess the compulsory rules used in US and Canadian minor hockey league games.

Of these, 11 identified a three-to-12-fold fall in injury rates after the implementation of rules restricting bodychecking and other aggressive acts during hockey games.

Penalty rates also fell by 1.2-5.9 penalties per game after the rules were changed.

"Rule changes essentially alter the culture of a sport and clearly define acceptable behavior for all stakeholders (players, coaches, parents, and officials) simultaneously," comment the researchers.

The interventions used in the studies were based either on blanket bans on bodychecking or on the Fair Play Program, in which league-table points are awarded not only for the number of games won during the season, but also for sportsmanship shown by each team.

Three additional studies analyzed the impact of educational interventions on aggression during hockey games.

These studies showed that teaching players about the safety benefits of respectful play led to a reduction in penalty rates.

However, they did not assess whether educational intervention affected injury rates.

A further two studies assessed the impact of cognitive behavioral interventions on aggression (the Playing Tough and Clean Hockey programs), which were designed to help players manage angry emotions.

Writing in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Michael Cusimano (University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and team report that both programs successfully reduced aggressive behavior during games.

The authors conclude: "Well-designed multifaceted strategies that combine such approaches hold promise and should be the topic of future research."

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