Frequency of pain and eating disorders among professional and amateur dancers

Gabriel Gomes De Oliveira Ribas,Thelma Larocca Skare,Maria Angélica Kurpel Diogo

doi:10.1590/1516-3180.2016.0077310516

Gabriel Gomes De Oliveira Ribas, Thelma Larocca Skare + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.2016.0077310516

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Abstract

The pursuit of perfection can cause anxiety and lead dancers to exceed their physical limits. The aim here was to evaluate the prevalence of pain symptoms and eating disorders among professional and amateur dancers. Observational cross-sectional study; Curitiba, PR, Brazil. Data on 150 professional and non-professional practitioners of ballet, jazz and street dance were collected through specific questionnaires: Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF), Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), Bulimic Investigatory Test Edinburgh (BITE) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-T-6 (STAI-T-6). Pain was observed in 58.6% of the sample, equally between professionals and amateurs (P = 0.19). Ballet dancers had more lower-limb pain than the other groups (P = 0.05). EAT-26 showed a tendency towards more eating disorders among the amateurs (P = 0.06). Higher risk of eating disorders was found among ballet dancers (P = 0.004) and jazz practitioners (P = 0.02) than among street dancers. Amateurs had more symptoms on the BITE scale (P < 0.0001), more pain (P = 0.002) and higher anxiety (P < 0.0001). Eating disorders were more common among females (P = 0.01) and singles (P = 0.02). Professionals were more satisfied with their own body image than amateurs (P < 0.001). Pain symptoms were found in almost half of the sample, equally among professionals and amateurs as well as between the three dance styles. Female and singles had more eating disorders. Those with eating disorders had higher levels of pain and anxiety.

Highlights

Dance is one of the most primitive forms of artistic expression
Our results showed that more than half of the sample analyzed had some kind of musculoskeletal pain and that dance style did not affect dancers’ perceptions regarding appearance
It was observed that almost 20% of the dancers presented a risk of bulimia and that this risk was distributed between professionals and amateurs

Summary

Introduction

Dance is one of the most primitive forms of artistic expression Dancers use their own bodies to communicate ideas and feelings. It is natural that they seek the ideal physical shape, in order to practice their art with perfection This search often leads them to subject their bodies to strenuous exercise and restrictive diets that turn them into a risk group for eating disorders and musculoskeletal injuries.[1,2,3,4,5]. It requires athletic ability and aerobic endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, good joint stability and neuromuscular coordination. Jumps may cause major impact on the feet For these reasons, ballet dancers frequently overload bone structures, muscles and periarticular ligaments.[3,6]

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