title: Ballet injuries. An analysis of epidemiology and financial outcome.
abstract: The financial outcome and epidemiology of ballet dancers' injuries were studied by examining workers' compensation insurance records covering 3 seasons (3 years) of activity for a large professional ballet company. One hundred four dancers sustained 309 injuries that resulted in insurance payouts for medical costs of $398,396. The average cost per injury was $1289. Although only 4.2% of the injuries resulted in medical costs exceeding $5000, these represented 60.0% of the total medical costs. Nine injuries resulted in medical costs in excess of $10,000 each. Overall, there were 2.97 injuries per injured dancer. Twenty-four dancers (23.0% of the injured) sustained 5 or more injuries each and thus were responsible for 51.9% (161) of all injuries. The foot (74 injuries, 23.9%), lumbar spine (71, 23.0%), and ankle (41, 13.3%) were the most frequently injured anatomic regions. The experience of this ballet company is similar to that of a college athletic department or a professional sports team. All could employ similar strategies to reduce injuries and associated costs.
authors.affiliation: Center for Sports Medicine, Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, San Francisco, CA 94109.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Garrick
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Requa
mesh_terms: D017281:Cost of Illness; D003615:Dancing / Q000293:injuries*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*