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Field hockey is a sanctioned sport in more than 19 states, involving more than 63,000 girls annually. Despite strong recommendations from numerous professional organizations, the U.S. governing body of field hockey does not mandate protective eyewear use. Investigators used two injury surveillance databases to prospectively compare head and face injury rates during two seasons in 6 states with and 29 states without mandatory protective eyewear (MPE).
Players in the non-MPE states suffered significantly more total head and face injuries (including concussions and injuries to the eye and orbit) than players in MPE states (181 vs. 31 injuries; incidence rate ratio, 1.47). The rate of severe injuries (preventing athletes from playing for >21 day…