The incidence of concussion and symptom non-reporting among professional women’s ice hockey players

Abstract

Background: Female ice hockey players have rates of sports-related concussion that are similar to male participants at various levels of play, despite differences in the rules that do not allow for body checking in the women’s game. At the elite level, there are limited data regarding concussion rates and concussion symptom reporting. Therefore, it was hypothesized that there would be a high incidence of concussion and concussion symptom-reporting in professional women’s ice hockey players. Methods: A survey was given to 54 players in the National Women’s Hockey League at the end of the 2018-2019 season. Players reported on the number of concussions diagnosed by a physician throughout their careers, the number of times they have had concussion symptoms, if they had ever continued playing after experiencing concussion symptoms, and if they had ever failed to report concussion symptoms to a medical professional or coach. Results: Fifty-four players completed the survey. Thirty-one (57%) respondents reported at least one concussion diagnosed during their playing career, with 16 (30%) reporting two or more diagnosed concussions. Thirty-six (67%) players reported experiencing concussion symptoms at least once, with 26 (48%) reporting two or more occurrences of such symptoms. Of the 36 players who had experienced symptoms of concussion, 25 (69%) reported that they continued playing at least once after experiencing concussion symptoms. Seventeen players (36%) reported that they did not initially tell anyone about their concussion symptoms on at least one occasion, while seven players (19%) never disclosed their symptoms. Conclusion: There is a high incidence of sport-related concussions reported in women’s professional ice hockey players as well as an alarming rate of symptom non-reporting. Clinical Relevance: This study provides new data on rates of concussion and symptom non-reporting among female professional ice hockey players and will aid clinicians in decision making when caring for these athletes.