Profile of dance aerobic instructors’ injuries, part I

Abstract

Malliou, P., Rokka, S.T., Tsigganos, G., Mavromoustakos, S., Godolias, G. (2013). Profile Of Dance Aerobic Instructors’ Injuries, part I. J Hum Sport Exerc., 8(3), pp.806-812, 2013. Dance aerobic has been increasingly popular in the last years, engaging people of all ages, improving cardiovascular system and ameliorating psychological mood. Dance aerobic instructors guide, organize and entertain all classes suffering, thus, from a number of frequently appearing injuries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of muscular-skeletal injuries in female dance aerobic instructors in Greece. The sample of the study was constituted of 273 female aerobic instructors who were educated in public and state colleges of physical education and sports in Greece and were observed over a period of three years (2006-2009). For the statistical treatment of the data, the method used was the analysis of frequencies and the nonparametric test X2. According to the results, 57.1% of the instructors were injured, most of them (19.8%) were injured once, 69.2% twice and 11% three times. The injury rate was 0.18 injuries per aerobic instructor per year. Out of all injuries, 79.5% was overuse syndromes. The most frequent site of injury was the leg (33.7%) followed by the knee (27.5%) and the back (22.9%). Tendonitis (22.1%), compartment syndrome (15.6%), low back pain (13.4%), and sprain (16.3%), were the most common diagnoses. Further research is needed to correlate the injury rate in aerobic instructors to the external risk factors, in order to prevent the high injury rate that the present study has recorded. In conclusion lowering the risk of injuries still further will benefit both female dance aerobic instructors and participants by enabling a greater enjoyment of the sport, better fitness, and less cost to the individual and the community. Key words: CHRONIC INJURIES, ANATOMICAL AREA, FEMALE DANCE AEROBIC INSTRUCTORS.