IADMS New York 2002   [back to the Category]

Identifying the at risk dancer: Who gets injured, and why?   [read the french version]

Author :   Tony Lycholat, MSc & Al.

Identifying the at risk dancer: Who gets injured, and why?


Tony Lycholat, MSc
The Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences
Sheffield, England

Kim Pedrick, BSc, MCSP, SRP
Rachel Rist, MA
The Arts Educational School
Tring, Hertfordshire, England


As many as 75% of dance students at The Arts Educational School, Tring, England, have been shown to suffer some form of musculoskeletal injury during their training. Although the risk factors for overuse injuries in dancers have been discussed there is a lack of evidence-based research on specific risk factors and proposed interventions.

Using our on-going injury database and a number of biomechanical tools and techniques we have developed an injury risk factor model to identify who may become injured and why. More importantly, injury prevention based upon the modification of an individual student’s injury risk profile is now not only possible, but also quantifiable.

Our approach has been to integrate existing dancer screening techniques with movement analysis tools typically used by biomechanists; such as digital video capture and analysis, and foot pressure distribution during class. A long-term program of rigorous additional evaluation in the laboratory using force plate measurement, EMG and motion analysis has also just begun. This will eventually lead to the refinement of our injury risk factor model.

This presentation aims to describe our model of risk factor identification and subsequent injury prevention. We hope to begin to answer the question/s; ‘who gets injured, and why?’