Effect of Rule Changes on Concussions in Youth Hockey

Purpose: The purpose of this experiment is to determine the effect of USA Hockey rule changes implemented between 2014 and 2016 on concussion injuries in youth hockey during the periods of 2010 and 2023. Procedure: Download National Electronic Injury Surveillance System data for hockey related injuries between the period of 2010-2023 Filter for injuries with diagnosis of concussion and age range between 13 and 18 Manually code data based on hospital notes. Adding coding for mechanism of injury (player to player, player to ice, player to board, result of a hit vs. fall). Create columns Checked, P2P (Player to Player), P2B (Player to Board), P2I (Player to Ice) Count and graph the absolute number of concussions each year. Conclusion: Prior to the implementation of USA Hockey Rule Changes, between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2013, the mean concussions among youth hockey players between ages of 13-18 were 69.75 concussions/year. The rule changes were implemented between 2014 and 2016. After the implementation of these changes, for the period between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2023 (excluding 2020 and 2021 due to COVID 19), the mean number of concussions declined to 43.8 concussions/year (P=.015).