ABSTRACT

The long-term health problems resulting from professional careers in contact sports such as hockey and football have recently received lots of attention. The lawsuits initiated by NFL- and NHL-veterans suffering from repetitive concussions of the brain that eventually lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy are two particularly prominent examples. The question, whether these long-term health problems could have been avoided, remains a highly contested issue. Using detailed career information on every single player drafted in the ten seasons before (1969 thru 1978) and the ten seasons after (1979 thru 1988) the implementation of mandatory helmets, we find that career length in professional hockey has increased by about two years, suggesting that adequate protective equipment contributes to player health and fitness. This positive effect, however, is somewhat reduced by specific forms of ‘offsetting behaviour’.

摘要

由接触运动的专业职业（例如曲棍球和足球）引起的长期健康问题最近受到了广泛关注。由NFL和NHL退伍军人发起的诉讼遭受了反复的脑震荡，最终导致了慢性外伤性脑病，这是两个特别突出的例子。这些长期健康问题是否可以避免的问题仍然是一个备受争议的问题。使用在实施强制性头盔之前的十个赛季（1969年至1978年）和之后的十个赛季（1979年至1988年）中起草的每位球员的详细职业信息，我们发现职业曲棍球的职业生涯长度增加了大约两年，这表明适当的防护装备有助于球员的健康和健身。但是，这种积极作用