PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Sabrina Gorks AU - Thomas Henke AU - Petra Platen TI - 279 Field hockey injuries and personal protective equipment: a status survey of German national teams AID - 10.1136/bjsports-2021-IOC.257 DP - 2021 Nov 01 TA - British Journal of Sports Medicine PG - A108--A109 VI - 55 IP - Suppl 1 4099 - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/Suppl_1/A108.2.short 4100 - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/Suppl_1/A108.2.full SO - Br J Sports Med2021 Nov 01; 55 AB - Background In order to prevent sports injuries, it is necessary to know the number of injuries and injury mechanisms of sports-related injuries. In addition, acceptance and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) should be examined. The results give a better overview in German elite hockey.Objective Data on injury frequencies and injury patterns in field hockey as well as on the wearing behavior of PPE in training and competition.Design Questionnaire-based retrospective total survey. Players were instructed to fill out one general and, in case of at least one time loss injury (at least 1 training or competition missed) during a 3-year-period (February 2016 – April 2019), one additional questionnaire per injury.Setting National elite hockey level. Participants were member of the German national teams including A-, U 21- and U 18-men and women teams (age range 16–32y).Participants 127 players took part in the survey.Main Outcome Measurements Exposure, injured body parts, incidence, time loss, wearing of PPEResults 89 players sustained 114 injuries. Incidence: Competition: Men: 5.79 injuries per 1000h; Women: 7.99 injuries per 1000h. Training: Men: 0.51 injuries per 1000h; Women: 0.31 injuries per 1000h. Body parts: Men: 77.6% lower extremities, 8.95% upper extremities. Women: 75% lower extremities, 16.7% upper extremities. Severity defined by Fuller et al. (2006): Men: 53.3% severe, 30% moderate, 10% mild and 6.67% minimal. Women: 47.8% severe, 37% moderate, 13% mild and 2.17% minimal. PPE: Fielders: Men: leg protection 96.6%, mouthguard 88.1% and gloves 66.1%. Women: leg protection 98%, mouthguard 94% and gloves 94%. Goalkeeper: carry more PPE in addition to mandatory PPE.Conclusions Injury incidence in German elite hockey players were lower than in comparable studies. Localization was almost similar to findings in other studies. No/less other studies recording the wearing behavior of PPE. Injury mechanism and correlation with wearing behavior of PPE should be examined to develop further preventive measures.