title: Dance floors as injury risk: analysis and evaluation of acute injuries caused by dance floors in professional dance with regard to preventative aspects.
abstract: A dance floor is often the only support of movements in dance. A dance floor surface that shows deficiencies, can result in acute injuries and chronic problems. Although the significance of an adequate dance floor is well known, there is still a lack of differentiated analyses of dance floor-related acute injuries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study presents data on acute injuries exclusively caused by the dance floor.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data were obtained from standardized work accident reports from consultants (F 1000), documentary accident records from all Berlin theatres, a state ballet school (n=2,281), and case records from the Berlin State Accident Insurance (UKB) covering a period of 17 years. All analyses and descriptive statistics were conducted with Excel 2007 and SPSS 18.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dance floor surfaces were the causative factor in 12.8% of all accidents (n=291, female 183, male 108). Almost two thirds (62.6%) of all accidents in professional dancers happened on stage, and almost half (49.5%) occurred during performances. As for causative factors, 53.1% of the professional dancers (P) and 42.5% of the dance students (S) claimed that the floor had been "too slippery," with "getting stuck" or (tripping) as the second most common problem (P 18.4%, S 11.3%). Of the injured dancers, 41.8% were older than 30 years and can therefore be categorized as experienced.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dance floors play a significant role in the occurrence of acute injuries, even in experienced dancers. Performances on stage seem to be a particular risk. However, injury prevention measures should include all work locations (P) as well as non-dance-specific locations (S).
authors.affiliation: Department of Dance Medicine, Charité, University Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Eileen.wanke@charite.de
authors.forename: Eileen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Wanke
authors.forename: Helmgard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mill
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wanke
authors.forename: Jaqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Davenport
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Groneberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000293:injuries; D003288:Contusions / Q000453:epidemiology; D003615:Dancing / Q000293:injuries*; D005260:Female; D005430:Floors and Floorcoverings; D006801:Humans; D007596:Joints / Q000293:injuries; D008022:Ligaments / Q000293:injuries; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000293:injuries; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012307:Risk Factors; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries; D013180:Sprains and Strains / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult