title: Injury prevention for modern dancers: a pilot study of an educational intervention.
abstract: Modern dancers suffer a high rate of musculoskeletal injuries. Preventing injury prolongs dance careers and eases financial burden on both individual dancers and dance companies alike. A medical student partnered with Garth Fagan Dance to develop a curriculum to teach principles of injury prevention specific to preprofessional and professional modern dancers. Quantitative assessments showed a significant increase in participant injury prevention knowledge after completion of the course (P < 0.0001). Participants' concern that injury may end their careers showed no significant change after the course (P = 0.35). Injury prevention and dance-related injuries were reported the most often as useful topics while weight management was reported the least often as a useful topic. Qualitative evaluations showed that participants' found a course on injury prevention valuable and desired a course of longer duration that includes a greater number of topics. These findings show that modern dancers perceive an educational course on injury prevention as valuable and retain information presented in the course in the short-term. Further study is warranted to assess changes in injury rates after the course and to continue to improve curriculum content and implementation.
authors.affiliation: University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Tracy L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Fuhrmann
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brayer
authors.forename: Noelle
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Andrus
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McIntosh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003479:Curriculum; D003615:Dancing / Q000193:education* / Q000293:injuries*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009141:Musculoskeletal System / Q000293:injuries*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D036301:Qualitative Research; D055815:Young Adult