title: Dance partner or dance floor?: exogenous factors resulting in accidents in professional dancers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Injury prevention in professional dancers is very important due to the high risk for acute injuries posing a threat to dancers' careers. Causative factors of acute injuries in professional dance can be divided into exogenous and endogenous factors. Although both are known in professional dance, there is still a lack of data to have a differentiated view. The aim of this study is to analyze exogenous factors resulting in work accidents of professional dancers.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data for the evaluation were obtained from work accident reports (n = 1,438, female 722, male 716) from six Berlin Theatres. Evaluation and descriptive statistics were conducted by SPSS 18 and Excel 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  About half (48.5%, n = 698) of all work accidents are caused by exogenous factors. The "dance partner" is the most common exogenous factor (39.9%), followed by the dance floor (28.24%) and props (13.6%). The lower extremity is the most frequent structure injured in either sex (male 47.3%, female 61.3%), followed by the upper extremity in females (14.6%) and spine in male dancers (19.8%). The stage is the most common injury location in both genders (males 63.9%, females 56.8%). Acute injuries caused by exogenous factors were particularly sustained during performances (males 58.8%, females 50.5%) and during rehearsals (males 33%, females 39.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows the key significance of exogenous factors in acute injuries in professional dance. Preserving the dancers' health and preventing injuries takes top priority, and therefore, interventions in the artistic work cannot be ruled out when preventive measures are implemented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dance Medicine, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Charité Medical University Berlin, Thielallee 69, 14195 Berlin, Germany. Tel +49 030 450 529 552, fax +49 030 450 529 952. 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: Fistd
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Checcetti
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Groneberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000293:injuries*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003288:Contusions / Q000453:epidemiology; D003615:Dancing / Q000293:injuries* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005430:Floors and Floorcoverings; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D015995:Prevalence; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012307:Risk Factors; D013180:Sprains and Strains / Q000453:epidemiology; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D055815:Young Adult