IADMS Madrid 2001   [back to the Category]

Injury presentation in adolescent dancers: Males versus females   [read the french version]

Author :   Kim Pedrick, BSc, MCSP, SRP, Rachel Rist, MA

Friday 2 November 2001
11:00 – 11:20 am Room 1

Injury presentation in adolescent dancers: Males versus females

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

The injury profile and rehabilitation needs of adolescent dancers are different from those of their adult counterparts. This has been attributed to a variety of different reasons, including the adolescent growth spurt, different training regimens and developing psychological and social behavior. These factors also vary greatly between males and females area. Consequently injury prevention and management need to be tailored accordingly.
A retrospective study was undertaken to examine the injury presentation patterns in 150 adolescent student dancers training at The Arts Educational School, Tring. For each student a number of variables were recorded including age and sex, nature of injury, duration of injury prior to presentation, treatment and outcome. We will discuss how the pattern of injury presentation differed between males and females in terms of type of injury, delay in presentation, and attitude toward treatment.

The results of this study confirm the differences between males and females and emphasize the need to consider these differences when developing training regimens end injury prevention programs.