Musculo-skeletal   [back to the Category]

COMPARISON OF WORK CHARACTERISTICS AND SPORTS RELATED PATHOLOGY IN THE STANDARD AND LATIN DANCERS   [read the french version]

Author :   Dr Mustafin

Introduction.
There is a scarce information available in the sports medical literature concerning a general pathology in Latin and Standard dancers. Sports dance (floor dances), which incorporates Latin and Standard programs, is a just newly elected kind of sport with the strong future Olympic ambitions. Sports dancers, as any organized athletes, could demonstrate some sports specific pathology from both, somatic and psychological points of view.
Standard and Latin dances have some major differences in type and intensity of activity, patterns of movements and psychological features of the dance. Since these differences there could be as well some difference in accidence, pattern and type of specific sports related pathology. The main aims of the study were to undercover such possible differences in physical and psychological health for the Standard and Latin dancers.

Materials and Methods.
Under investigation during the fourteen months period (years 1999 – 2001) were 56 dancers of both genders (28 pairs, accordingly 28 male and 28 female) aged 11 – 24. An average age at the start of dance’s participation was 7 years. Dancers had on average 5 training sessions plus two competition’s days every week for ten months per year. Trainings consisted mostly from the specific dance repetitions. There were up to four training camps per year including additional specific dance trainings, fitness (aerobics, stretching, power exercises) and psychological trainings. Dancers were medal holders and/or participants of the final rounds of the Latvian as well as of the European, World championships or other international events. All the dancers were divided into subgroups depending on their specialization – Latin, Standard or mixed. Pairs mostly participated in both, Latin and Standard programs up to the age of eighteen with a subsequent specialization in just one program.
Such the health indices were investigated prophylactically: general health condition, blood and urinalysis, blood biochemistry, musculo-skeletal system (stature, muscular strength and length, trigger points), fitness testing (Eurofit) (1,2). In connection to the training sessions (prior to, during and after) were measured: training heart rate (HR) (Polar Sport Tester), blood lactate (Accusport), physiological training response (blood pressure, recovery time, training index). All the reported diseases and sports injuries were recorded.
Such individual and group’s psychological methods were used: 1)questionnaire (subjective working capacity), 2) method of auto regulation of stress and progressive relaxation, breathing techniques, visualization and mental programming, elaboration of a common aims for the pair (3,4).


Results, discussion.
There was a high incidence of mialgia, trigger points were mostly situated in the upper extremities girdle, neck and thoraco-lumbar regions; skoliotic posture deformities; flat foot; cephalgia of muscular origin; Osgood-Schlatter disease; dysmenorhoea; iron deficite anemia; upper respiratory tract infections. The incidence of anemia and dysmenorhoea was higher for the female Latin dancers. The incidence of mialgia and trigger points in the neck and shoulder regions was higher for Standard dancers. The courses of physiotherapy, manual therapy, individual strength and stretching exercises gave positive results.
Higher level of musculo-skeletal pathology and especially posture disturbances in Standard can be explained by a lower level of general fitness (internal factors) and fixed upper girdle positions in Standard dances (external factors). Higher level of dysmenorhea and anemia in Latin female dancers can be explained by a higher level of training intensity.
Physical working capacity (PWC170) had a tendency to be higher for Latin dancers. Training intensity measured by HR was significantly (p=0.01) higher for Latin – maximal HR=187.3±13.1, average HR=129.7±9.2 (n=38), comparing to Standard maximal HR=154.9±11.4, average HR=111.4±8.3 (n=43). Training blood lactate measured immediately after the dance’s had a tendency to be higher for Latin.
General fitness level (Eurofit) for dancers was higher comparing to age and sex matched schoolchildren from the general Latvian population and lower comparing to other athletes (for comparison were used statistically significant groups, n = 30000).
There was a low general profile of sports injury – on the average one per dancer/year. The most usual acute injury was contusion in the calf region for Latin dancers and head injury for Standard. Main reason for injury was a direct contact to a partner/counterparts. Overuse injury seemed to be uncommon for Sports Dancers and usually was classified as entezopathy (foot, knee, lower back). There was found no difference in the incidence of injury during the trainings and competitions.
From the psychological point of view, psychical overload (mostly perceptive) was more common for Standard and was more pronounced during trainings. That could be explained by a higher informative stress for Standard dance. Emotional overload along with an emotional instability and a higher emotional excitability was more typical for Latin. Precompetition stress was higher for Standard mostly because of an unmotivated expectation to make a mistake during the dance. From the psychological standpoint no difference in the original type of nervous system was found for Standard and Latin.
All the changes (both, physical and psychological) were more pronounced for the dancers with an early specialization (14 – 16 years).

Conclusions.
There are some differences in the physical and psychological pathology between the Latin and Standard sports dancers. Training intensity and emotional demands are higher for Latin. Informative stress is higher for Standard. For a somatic pathology, leading external risk factors are the fixed upper’s girdle position for Standard and a high training intensity for Latin. General fitness appears to be on a low level.
Traditional sports medical and psychological methods of intervention can give the positive results.

Literature.
1. Lewit K., Sachse J., Janda V. Manual Medicine. Moscow, 1993.
2. Eurofit. European Tests of Physical Fitness, 1993.
3. Silva. Hoze Darnd. Managing of Mind by the Method of Silva for a Physical Growth. Minsk, 1997.
4. Shaihutdinov R.Z. An Individual and Will-power in Sport. Moscow, 1997.