Injury surveillance in street dance in Japan

Abstract

Although street dance quickly became popular in Japan, and the population of street dancers is increasing, there is limited information on injuries sustained during street dance in Japan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of injuries in street dancers in Japan. One hundred and ninety-five Japanese street dancers (92 intermediate, 35 advanced, and 68 expert dancers) participated in this study. A questionnaire survey concerning the injuries sustained during dancing was conducted over a 3-month period. The main results were: (1) Sixty-one dancers reported a total of 72 injuries, and injury rate was 0.56 per 1000 players-hours; (2) Ankle injuries accounted for 45.8% of the reported injuries; (3) Dancing proficiency level was related to the occurrence of injury, and the occurrence was significantly higher for the expert dancers; (4) The duration of warm-up was related to the occurrence of pains. These findings provide fundamental information that may contribute to the development of injury prevention in street dance.