A Cross-Sectional Study of Elite Adult Irish Dancers: Biopsychosocial Traits, Pain, and Injury

Abstract

Despite its growing popularity, scant research exists concerning musculoskeletal pain and injury in Irish dancing (ID). This study aimed to record the biopsychosocial characteristics of elite adult Irish dancers and to investigate potential relationships between these characteristics and musculoskeletal pain and injury. One hundred and four professional Irish dancers, elite competitive Irish dancers, and dancers in full time education studying ID completed a questionnaire providing data on dance and activity levels, physical and psychological health, and pain and injury history. Of these subjects, 84 underwent 1. a physical screening of lower limb flexibility, which involved balance and endurance; 2. a number of functional tests; and 3. anthropometric, biomechanical, and anatomical assessments. Subjects were divided into "significantly injured (SI)" and "not significantly injured (NSI)" categories based on the severity and impact of self-reported pain and injury. Thirty-three (31.7%) subjects were classified as SI and 71 (68.3%) as NSI. The factors significantly associated with being SI were female sex (p = 0.036), higher number of subjective general health (p = 0.001) and psychological (p = 0.036) complaints, low mood (p = 0.01), heightened catastrophizing (p = 0.047), and failure always to complete a warm-up (p = 0.006). A self-reported injury rate of 76.9% over the previous 5 years was reported. The mean number of injuries sustained to all body parts over the previous 5 years was 1.49, with a mean of 126.1 days lost annually to injury. Foot and ankle injuries were most prevalent. It was concluded that there is a significant level of musculoskeletal pain and injury in elite adult ID. A complex combination of biopsychosocial factors appears to be associated with pain and injury.

Inability to perform because of pain/injury in elite adult Irish dance: A prospective investigation of contributing factors

“…This is the first study in ID to prospectively monitor subjects for incidence and perceived causes of pain/injury. The findings of this study support many previous retrospective findings in this and similar cohorts (Cahalan & O'Sullivan, ; Cahalan et al., ). As in earlier studies, pain/injury was markedly more common in the foot and ankle region, with the knee, shin, and calf also commonly affected (Cahalan et al., ).…”

“…The findings of this study support many previous retrospective findings in this and similar cohorts (Cahalan & O'Sullivan, 2013;Cahalan et al, 2015). As in earlier studies, pain/injury was markedly more common in the foot and ankle region, with the knee, shin, and calf also commonly affected (Cahalan et al, 2015). In comparison with a retrospective study of professional Irish dancers, where 76.9% of subjects reported an injury at some stage in their career (Cahalan & O'Sullivan, 2013), 82.1% of the current cohort reported some level of pain/injury throughout the year of this study.…”

“…This compares well with the illness (exclusive of musculo‐skeletal pain/injury) prevalence rate of 10.67% in the current study. In this and our previous research (Cahalan et al., , ), a higher number of subjective health complaints has consistently been associated with more pain/injury, suggesting that this is an area that should not be overlooked when screening Irish dancers for pain/injury vulnerability.…”

“…Studies have reported rates of injury ranging from 55.9% (Stein et al., ) in adolescent amateur Irish dancers to 76.6% (Cahalan & O'Sullivan, ) in adult professional Irish dancers. Previous cross‐sectional research has identified that a combination of biopsychosocial and individual factors were associated with pain and injury in elite adult Irish dancers (Cahalan et al., ). These factors included female sex, more subjective general health and psychological complaints, lower mood, higher catastrophizing, and failure to always complete a warm‐up.…”

Association between ACTN3 R577X Polymorphism and Trunk Flexibility in 2 Different Cohorts

“…Loss of flexibility can be a predisposing factor for physical issues, such as pain syndromes or balance disorders. Moreover, flexibility is an essential aspect of performance, and is frequently included in talent identification and screening measures for gymnasts, divers, and dancers [6,10]. Although many factors must be taken into account when establishing personal flexibility, muscular elasticity is an important element of flexibility.…”