The association between body-built and injury occurrence in pre-professional ballet dancers – Separated analysis for the injured body-locations

Abstract

Objectives: This study has aimed at identifying prevalence of injury-occurrence in 24 pre-professional-ballet-dancers (females, 16–18 years of age), and identifying the associations between the body-built and prevalence of injuries. Material and Methods: The sample of variables included: body mass, body height, and 3 somatotype characteristics (mesomorph, ectomorph and endomorph) and data on injuries over the preceding year. Results: Dancers were mostly ectomorphic-mesomorph (endomorphy: 2.6±0.54, mesomorphy: 3.99±0.77, ectomorphy: 3.23±0.54). The most commonly injured locations were the foot (17% of all injuries) and ankle (17%). Majority of the injuries occurred while practising but 37% of hip-injuries occurred while performing. Ankle-injuries resulted in longest absence from ballet. Endomorphy was related to ankle-injury (odds ratio (OR) = 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.4–2.3), ectomorphy to foot injury (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.1–2.9), and body-mass to injury to the toes (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.4–3.1). Conclusions: The results of this study allow for recognizing those dancers who are particularly vulnerable to injuries of certain body location. A more profound analysis of the possible mechanisms that lead to hip-injury during performance is needed. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(1):151–159

Keywords

• training
• performance
• etiology
• predictors
• health-status
• injuries