A New In-Skates Balance Error Scoring System for Ice Hockey Players.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate a new in-skates balance error scoring system (SBESS) for ice hockey players wearing their equipment. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, single blinded study. SETTING: Sport Medicine Clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty university hockey players. INTERVENTION: A control group performed the SBESS assessment at rest on 2 separate occasions and an experimental group performed the assessment at rest and after exertion. The SBESS consists of maintaining different stances on ice skates for 20 seconds each, while wearing full equipment (no stick, gloves and helmet) and standing on a hard rubber surface. Three independent reviewers scored the video recorded assessments. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Primary outcome was the number of balance errors and the secondary outcome was the number of falls. RESULTS: The control group's median SBESS scores were 2 and 3 on the first and second attempts at rest, respectively. The experimental group's median SBESS scores were 2 at rest and 2 after exertion. There was no fatigue effect and no athletes fell while performing the test. Of the 4 stances tested, the tandem stance had the highest variability in error scores between athletes and when repeated by the same athlete. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for interrater reliability was above 0.82, and the intrarater reliability ICC was above 0.86 for all SBESS scores. There was no concordance between the SBESS and the modified BESS. CONCLUSIONS: The SBESS, omitting the tandem stance, is a safe and reproducible sideline balance assessment of ice hockey players wearing full equipment.