title: Impact of touring, performance schedule, and definitions on 1-year injury rates in a modern dance company.
abstract: There is ongoing debate about how to define injury in dance: the most encompassing one or a time-loss definition. We examined the relationship between touring, performance schedule and injury definition on injury rates in a professional modern dance company over one-year. In-house healthcare management tracked 35 dancers for work-related musculoskeletal injuries (WMSI), time-loss injuries (TLinj), complaints, and exposure. The year was divided into 6 segments to allow comparison of effects of performance, rehearsal, and touring. Injuries/segment were converted into injuries/1000-h dance exposure. We conducted negative binomial regression analysis to determine differences between segments, P ≤ 0.05. Twenty WMSI, 0.44 injuries/1000-h, were sustained over one-year. WMSI were 6 times more likely to occur in Segment-6, compared with other segments (incident rate ratio = 6.055, P = 0.031). The highest rate of TLinj and traumatic injuries also occurred in Segment-6, reflecting concentrated rehearsal, New York season and performances abroad. More overuse injuries occurred in Segment-2, an international tour, attributed to raked stages. Lack of methods to quantify performance other than injury may mask effects of touring on dancer's well-being. Tracking complaints permits understanding of stressors to specific body regions and healthcare utilisation; however, TLinj remain the most important injuries to track because they impact other dancers and organisational costs.
authors.affiliation: a ADAM Center , New York , NY , USA.|b Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Shaw
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bronner
authors.affiliation: a ADAM Center , New York , NY , USA.|b Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Lily
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D012090:Cumulative Trauma Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D003615:Dancing / Q000293:injuries*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000453:epidemiology; D007596:Joints / Q000293:injuries; D008022:Ligaments / Q000293:injuries; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000293:injuries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D014195:Travel; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dance repertory; medical attention injury; physical complaint; time-loss injury; transient injury