O3284: Epidemiology of Pediatric Dance Injuries

Background: The frequency of dance injuries has increased over the last few decades. Previous research involving adolescent and adult dancers has shown overuse ankle injuries to be more common among female dancers and acute shoulder, knee, and face injuries to be more common among male dancers, likely due to gender-based dance roles. Our study aimed to describe the type and rate of dance injuries seen in pediatric patients in the last two decades.

Methods: The Public Health Information System (PHIS) was queried for patients aged 0-18 years who suffered dance-related injuries and presented to participating children’s hospitals between 2004 and 2023. Patients with non-orthopedic diagnoses were excluded. Demographics, diagnosis, injury severity, visit type, physician specialty, and complications were collected from single encounters. Diagnoses were categorized into seven locations and eight injury types. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and chi-square tests were performed.

Results: 19,955 dance injuries (16,901 female) with mean patient age 11.6 ± 4.1 years, presented to attending physician s mostly in Emergency Medicine (63%), Pediatrics (18%), and Orthopedic Surgery (7%) settings. The number of injuries per year increased from 2009 (761) to 2023 (1,555) and peaked in 2018 (1,960). 146 encounters were flagged for infection at presentation and 7 were flagged for surgical complication. Most injuries were of minor severity and injuries of moderate and major severity were more common among males than females (Table 1). The relationship between gender and severity level was significant but the relationship between age group and severity level was not significant (Table 1). Lower-body injuries were more common among females (68% of female injuries) than among males (55% of male injuries). Upper-body injuries were more common among males (43% of male injuries) than females (31% of female injuries). Both the relationships between body part injured and gender and injury type and gender were significant (Table 2). Among females, sprains outnumbered fractures, and among males, fractures outnumbered sprains. Dislocations/instability were more common among males than females (Table 2).

Conclusion: Most dance injuries involve the lower body, specifically the ankle and knee, and are minor in severity. Injury severity, location, and type vary by gender. Male dancers tend to experience more upper body injuries, fractures, dislocation events, and moderate severity injuries. Female dancers tend to experience more sprains, lower body injuries, and minor severity injuries, though these three categories of injuries are the most common amongst both male and female dancers. Age group does not appear to influence the severity of injury. These findings may help focus injury prevention programs for youth to reduce the risk of lower-body injury, particularly at the ankles and knees.