The effect of fatigue on Functional Movement Screening performance in dancers

Objective: Dance is associated with a high risk of injury with fatigue identified as a contributing factor. Functional Movement Screening (FMS) has been used to identify alterations in normal movement which may contribute to injury risk, however this is not normally performed in a fatigued state. The aim of this study was to determine whether fatigue induced by the Dance Aerobic Fitness Test (DAFT) results in changes in FMS scores with implications for performance and injury risk. Methods: Forty-one university dancers completed the FMS prior to and immediately following completion of the DAFT. Rate of Perceived Exertion and heart rate were quantified as measures of fatigue. Results: Post-DAFT the mean FMS composite Score (15.39 ± 1.86) was significantly less (p ≤ 0.01) than pre-exercise (16.83 ± 1.83). Element-specific analysis revealed that the deep squat (p ≤ 0.01), non-dominant lunge (p ≤ 0.01) and dominant inline lunge (p ≤ 0.01) scores were all significantly impaired post-DAFT performance. Conclusion: The identification of changes in quality of movement in a fatigued state suggest that movement screening should also be performed post-exercise to enhance screening for injury risk. The influence of dance-specific fatigue was FMS element-specific. Specifically, the deep squat and inline lunge and were most susceptible to fatigue, with implications for injury risk and performance, and reflective of the high level of neuromuscular control required.