The Beighton score and injury in dancers. A prospective cohort study

ROSS ARMSTRONG

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (journal)peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)
29 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

CONTEXT:
Joint hypermobility has a high prevalence in dancers and may be associated with injury and performance.

OBJECTIVES:
To investigate whether total Beighton score can predict injury and to determine the relationship between joint hypermobility and injury and to report injury demographics.

DESIGN:
A prospective cohort injury study.

SETTING:
University Dance Injury Clinic.

PARTICIPANTS:
Eighty-two dancers (62 females, 20 males).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Joint hypermobility via the Beighton score ≥ 4 with lumbar flexion included and removed.

RESULTS:
Sixty-one dancers were classified as hypermobile which reduced to 50 dancers with lumbar flexion removed. A significant difference existed between pooled total days injured in hypermobile dancers and non-hypermobile dancers with lumbar flexion included (p = 0.02) and removed (p = 0.03). No significant differences existed for total Beighton score between injured and non-injured groups with lumbar flexion included (p = 0.11) and removed (p = 0.13). Total Beighton score was a weak predictor of total days injured (r2 = 0.06, p = 0.51). Forty-seven injuries occurred in 34 dancers and pooled injury rate was 1.03 injuries/1000 hours. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated an area under the curve of 0.83 for male dancers with lumbar flexion removed which was considered diagnostic for injury.

CONCLUSIONS:
The Beighton score can be utilised to identify dancers who may develop injury. Clinicians should consider the role of lumbar flexion in total Beighton score when identifying those dancers at risk of injury. Different injury thresholds in female and male dancers may aid injury management.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-9
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Sport Rehabilitation
Early online date16 May 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 May 2019

Keywords

  • Beighton score
  • joint hypermobility
  • lumbar flexion
  • total days injured

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