More than 5,600 Canadians seriously injured every year from winter activities

Skiing and snowboarding lead to twice as many hospitalizations as hockey

OTTAWA, Jan. 17, 2012 /CNW/ - While hockey hits have been getting a lot of attention in Canada, skiing and snowboarding injuries are more than twice as common, according to new data released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). In 2010-2011, there were 2,329 hospital admissions for a skiing or snowboarding fall or crash, compared with 1,114 hockey-related hospitalizations. Other seasonal activities also led to hospital stays: ice skating (889); snowmobiling (1,126); and tobogganing (171).

"There is a lot to enjoy about Canadian winters, but safety and precautions are important across all age groups," explains Greg Webster, Director of Primary Health Care Information and Clinical Registries at CIHI. "Every year, more than 5,000 Canadians get seriously injured—requiring at least one night's hospital stay—due to a winter sport or recreational activity. These numbers do not include visits that involve only the emergency department (ED) or a doctor's office, or deaths at the scene, so the total number of injuries is actually much higher."

In terms of total ED visits for these seasonal activities, Ontario (where complete data is available) alone saw a total of 45,270 in 2010-2011. That averages out to 285 ED visits for every day of winter.

Most often hurt while playing: boys age 10 to 19

Half of all hospitalizations during 2010-2011 for hockey injuries (542 out of 1,114) and close to one-third of all those for skiing and snowboarding (689 out of 2,329) were for people age 10 to 19. When looking at all winter activities in this age group, boys accounted for 81% of those hurt.

Children younger than 10 were hospitalized most often for injuries related to skiing and snowboarding (87 cases) and tobogganing (56 cases).

Of the activities studied, snowmobiling was the only one not over-represented by younger Canadians in terms of hospitalizations: two-thirds (752 out of 1,126) of serious snowmobile injuries occurred in adults age 20 to 49.

Past five years see little change in number of serious injuries

The total number of hospitalizations related to seasonal activities has not changed much since 2006-2007. As well, in 2010-2011, 415 Canadians were hospitalized for head injuries related to a winter sport or recreational activity; this number has remained relatively stable since 2006-2007.

Last year, nearly one-third (135) of these serious head injuries occurred while skiing or snowboarding. Over the past five years, a total of 759 head injury hospitalizations were related to ski hill activities in Canada.

"When it comes to winter, it's important that Canadians get outside to play and enjoy our slopes," says Dr. Natalie Yanchar, Associate Professor of Surgery and Emergency Medicine at Dalhousie University, and Medical Director at IWK Trauma Care in Halifax. "Wearing a helmet is important for all ages to prevent a fun day in the snow from ending in tragedy—without question, it reduces the risk of serious head injuries in case of a crash."

Older Canadians most often hurt by falls on ice

For all winter-related causes of serious injuries (excluding motor vehicle collisions), falls on ice were by far the most common cause: they led to 7,138 hospital admissions in 2010-2011, more than for all winter sports and recreational activities combined. About half of these cases occurred in people age 60 and older and about 70% were among those 50 and older.

More than half (56%) of those hospitalized for falls on ice were women.

The following tables are available from CIHI's website, at www.cihi.ca.

Table 1: Number of Hospitalizations Due to Winter Sports and Recreational Activities, by Cause and Fiscal Year, 2006-2007 to 2010-2011

Activity*	Fiscal Year
	2006-2007	2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010	2010-2011
Ice Hockey	1,221	1,099	1,099	1,188	1,114
Ice Skating	888	863	853	870	889
Skiing/Snowboarding	2,364	2,573	2,464	2,443	2,329
Snowmobiling	1,195	1,295	1,231	1,228	1,126
Tobogganing	252	215	189	204	171
Total	5,920	6,045	5,836	5,933	5,629

Notes
* Based on first reported ICD-10 external cause of injury code.
Excludes people who died at the scene of the injury or who were treated outside of a hospital setting, such as in a walk-in clinic or doctor's office.

Source
National Trauma Registry Minimum Data Set, 2011, Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Table 2: Number of Hospitalizations Due to Winter Sports and Recreational Activities, by Cause, Age and Gender, 2006-2007 to 2010-2011

Activity*	Age Group																Total
	0-9		10-19		20-29		30-39		40-49		50-59		60-69		70+
	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Ice Hockey	12	101	192	2,645	57	937	42	711	33	658	10	234	N/R	67	N/R	17	5,721
Ice Skating	89	80	221	678	134	345	258	430	326	507	368	316	285	177	60	89	4,363
Skiing/ Snowboarding	149	227	920	3,171	770	2,062	432	891	551	819	571	663	291	321	119	216	12,173
Snowmobiling	33	54	183	666	205	1,183	219	1,104	204	1,085	142	613	52	223	12	97	6,075
Tobogganing	151	197	146	208	58	57	48	41	44	35	18	19	N/R	N/R	N/R	N/R	1,031

Notes
* Based on first reported ICD-10 external cause of injury code.
N/R: not reportable. In accordance with CIHI's privacy policy, cells with counts of 1 to 4 were suppressed.
Excludes people who died at the scene of the injury or who were treated outside of a hospital setting, such as in a walk-in clinic or doctor's office.
Six hospitalizations of unknown gender were excluded.

Source
National Trauma Registry Minimum Data Set, 2011, Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Table 3: Number of Hospitalizations Due to Falls on Ice, by Age and Gender, 2006-2007 to 2010-2011

Age Group	2006-2007			2007-2008			2008-2009			2009-2010			2010-2011
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
0-9	35	17	52	48	24	72	42	25	67	25	13	38	35	20	55
10-19	128	60	188	142	81	223	135	100	235	80	60	140	92	53	145
20-29	205	167	372	233	238	471	266	245	511	148	156	304	204	211	415
30-39	250	274	524	309	346	655	334	385	719	207	217	424	274	297	571
40-49	434	516	950	520	602	1,122	618	662	1,280	315	345	660	417	520	937
50-59	543	737	1,280	662	932	1,594	719	1,042	1,761	418	587	1,005	639	832	1,471
60-69	473	628	1,101	655	823	1,478	713	965	1,678	441	552	993	548	796	1,344
70+	844	1,132	1,976	1,059	1,430	2,489	1,306	1,564	2,870	741	1,007	1,748	919	1,281	2,200
Total	2,912	3,531	6,443	3,628	4,476	8,104	4,133	4,988	9,121	2,375	2,937	5,312	3,128	4,010	7,138

Note
Excludes people who died at the scene of the injury or who were treated outside of a hospital setting, such as in a walk-in clinic or doctor's office.

Source
National Trauma Registry Minimum Data Set, 2011, Canadian Institute for Health Information.