Injury epidemiology in pre-professional ballet dancers: A 5-year prospective cohort study

Introduction: Pre-professional ballet dancers are at high-risk for injury, with injury rates ranging from 1.4 to 4.7 injuries/1000 dance-hours. In dance injury epidemiology, multi-year studies are limited, and findings are inconsistent. Thus, the extent to which injury estimates range from year to year in a pre-professional ballet program is currently unknown.

Objective: The aim of this study was to establish the extent and characteristics of injuries in pre-professional adolescent ballet dancers across five academic training years.

Methods: 452 female and male pre-professional ballet dancers (median age, 15 years; range, 11-20 years) participated across five academic years at a vocational ballet school. Participants completed an online weekly injury questionnaire (OSTRC-Q) and self-reported dance hours questionnaire.

Results: Questionnaire response was 91.4%. Depending on the definition of injury, yearly injury prevalence ranged from 32.1% (145/452; time-loss) to 67.4% (305/452; all-complaints) across the 5 years. Yearly injury rates ranged from 0.76 (95%CI: 0.66, 0.86; time-loss) to 2.54 (95%CI: 2.37, 2.73; all-complaints) per 1000 dance-hours. The ankle was the most reported injury location (range: 16-33%).

Conclusions: Injury prevalence and injury rate estimates remained high across five academic years in a pre-professional ballet population. Injury estimates were highest when an all-complaints definition was employed.

Level of evidence: Therapy/Prevention, Aetiology/Harm, level 2b.