ANKLE FLEXIBILITY AND INJURY PATTERNS IN DANCERS

Lower-extremity injuries are common among dancers and cause significan t absences from rehearsals and performances. For this study of lower-e xtremity injuries in 101 ballet and 47 modern dance students, injuries requiring medical attention sustained over 1 academic year were assoc iated with the following data obtained at the beginning of the school year: ankle flexibility, sex, dance discipline, previous injury, body mass index, and years of training. Eighty-three of the 148 students (a ge range, 12 to 28 years) reported prior lower-limb injuries, the most common being ankle sprains (28% of all dancers). Previous leg injurie s correlated significantly with lower dorsiflexion measurements and wi th more new injuries. Female students had greater ankle and first meta tarsophalangeal Flexibility. Modern dancers had greater ankle inversio n. Ninety-four students sustained 177 injuries during the study, inclu ding 75 sprains or strains and 71 cases of tendinitis. Thirty-nine per cent (N = 69) were ankle injuries; 18% (N = 33) were knee injuries; 23 % (N = 40) were fool injuries; and 20% (N = 35) were either hip or thi gh injuries. Sixty-seven percent (N = 78) of the injured students were ballet dancers. Age, years of training, body mass index, sex, and ank le range of motion measurement had no predictive value for injury; pre vious injury and dance discipline both correlated with increased risk of injury.