Background: Anecdotally, low back pain is a common complaint for many dancers; a comparison across recent research is needed to support or disprove this theory across genres. Purpose: To determine the prevalence of low back pain and low back injury in ballet, modern, and hiphop dancers through a systematic literature review. A secondary goal was to identify trends amongst dance genres, level of mastery, gender, and age, if possible. Study Design: Literature review. Methods: PRISMA search strategy terms between November 2017 and March 2018 with an ADA grading evaluation and a modified Newcastle-Ottawa Risk of Bias assessment. Twenty-five ballet articles, 5 modern, and 3 hip-hop met the inclusion criteria. Results: Prevalence of low back pain or injury seems relatively high in ballet dance; little research exists on the prevalence of back pain in hip-hop or modern dancers. Twenty-five of the 33 studies relied on a questionnaire to gather their data. Conclusion: Ballet dancers are at risk for low back pain or injury independent of gender, age or level of mastery; there is not enough evidence to draw any conclusions about modern dancers or hip-hop dancers and their relationship to low back pain/injury currently. Future studies need a higher level of evidence and a reduced risk of bias.What is known about the subject: There are several injury studies on ballet dancers, but they report 'low back pain' or 'injury' as a footnote to other injuries. Few studies use modern and hip-hop dancers as participants. The research on ballet dancers fluctuates wildly in reported prevalence, and differing reporting methods prevent direct comparison. What this study adds to existing knowledge: This study illuminates the dearth of research, especially those of high-quality and non-ballet participants. This study aims to call attention to this gap and promote vigorous scholarship for related research moving forward.
Introduction: Low back pain (LBP) lifetime prevalence in dancers reportedly ranges from 17% to 88%. Low back pain can have negative secondary consequences on dancers’ lives and careers. Still, how LBP impacts dancer function and medical care-seeking behaviors and whether these issues differ across dance genres, is understudied.Materials and Methods: Two hundred and eight-nine ballet, modern, and hip-hop dancers and teachers (median age: 20.3 years; range: 18 to 69 years) in the United States completed an online 24-question survey assessing LBP related self-reported injury history, impact on their lives, and management strategies. We defined LBP as occurrence of acute or chronic pain in the lumbar or sacral regions of the back. Results: Two hundred and fifty-seven participants (88.9% of 289 total) reported at least one instance of LBP during their lifetime and 220 participants reported LBP in the prior 4 weeks. Of these 220, 72 (32.7%) had LBP severe enough to limit their activities of daily living. Of the 213 who had LBP and danced during that time, 89 (41.8%) reported that LBP limited their dancing. Pain intensity (median: 4 on a 0 to 10 scale, IQR: 3.0) and LBP prevalence were similar across dance genres. Dancers sought multiple medical professionals, most often chiropractors (n = 94, 33.8%), medical doctors (n = 77, 27.7%), and physiotherapists (n = 60, 21.6%). Ninety dancers (35.0% of those with LBP) never sought medical care. Dancers who did seek care reported higher pain intensities (median: 4, IQR: 3.8) than those who did not (median: 3, IQR: 3.0). Conclusion: Overall, most participants did suffer from LBP. Low back pain negatively impacts dancers’ everyday activities and dancing. Pain intensity and loss of function may impact care-seeking. Our findings highlight the need for all dance stakeholders to educate dancers about their health, provide resources for dancer health care, and proactively create an environment that supports injury reporting behaviors in dancers.
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