IADMS Madrid 2001   [back to the Category]

Gender difference and impact of joint laxity in student classical ballet dancers   [read the french version]

Author :   Moira McCormack, MSc, Janet Briggs, MSc, MCSP, SRP

Gender difference and impact of joint laxity in student classical ballet dancers

Moira McCormack, MSc, Janet Briggs, MSc, MCSP, SRP, The Royal Ballet School, Rodney Grahame, MD, University College London Hospitals; London, England

Studies in the 1970s and 1980s revealed that joint hypermobility may act in females as a positive selection factor for entrance into ballet school, but also as a risk factor for subsequent injury. Anecdotal observation suggested that this relationship might not apply to males.

Over the past 25 years it has become apparent that hypermobility may indicate a heritable connective tissue disorder known as the “Benign Joint Hypermobility Syndrome” (BJHS), now identifiable by internationally-agreed criteria (1998 Brighton criteria). People with BJHS are vulnerable to the effects of injury and overuse.

The purpose of the study is to ascertain whether there exists among a population of ballet students, those who conform to the Brighton criteria for BJHS. Such subjects will have an in-built vulnerability to the effects of injury, which is likely to be a disadvantage. If so, it may help to influence teaching and prevent injury

Study method: The following measurements were performed on 75 ballet students aged 16-18 years and age-matched, gender-matched, and ethnically-matched controls: the Beighton (qualitative) and the Contompasis (semi-quantitative) joint hypermobility scores, and the angle of passive dorsiflexion of the fifth metacarpophalangeal joint in response to a fixed load. Other features of the Brighton criteria for the BJHS were sought. The study is currently in progress.

The results will be analyzed to determine:
1. Whether there are differences between the dance students and controls and between genders within groups;

2. What proportion of the hypermobile subjects in each group satisfy the Brighton criteria (and therefore might be deemed to have the BJHS) and therefore might be at special risk

The completed analysis has been presented and discussed at the meeting.