Additional Exercise Program in Professional Dancers

NCT01440153 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: UZA-DRCT-2011
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 44
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Professional dancing requires an almost perfect control of technical skills, combined with a good physical condition. To meet the demands of choreography, dancers need an adequate aerobic endurance capacity, muscular strength as well as flexibility and motor control (Twitchett et al. 2009; Roussel et al. 2009). One could compare these requirements to those of an athlete. In contrasts to athletes, only few attention has been given to the prevention of injuries in dancers. Professional dancers are at high risk to develop musculoskeletal injuries, especially, soft tissue and overuse injuries to lower extremities and spine(Hincapié et al, 2008). Several potential risk factors for injury have been suggested, such as a reduced level of aerobic fitness, lack of muscular strength, hypermobility of the joints and altered motor control of the lumbopelvic region but no conclusive evidence exists for any of these items separately. Applying sports science principles to dance training may improve the performances of the dancers (Twitchett et al. 2009). Dancers demonstrate low aerobic fitness and muscle strength, in contrast to the high demands. Aerobic endurance of dancers is for example comparable to healthy adults with a sedentary life style. Fitness programs, additional to regular dance classes, have only recently been considered (Twitchett et al. 2009). The advantages of additional training in athletes is beyond questioning. Nevertheless, this concept is relatively new for dancers. On the one hand, professional dancers do not consider themselves as a sportsmen but as artists (Wyon et al, 2007). On the other hand, choreographers and dancers fear the negative influence of training on body aesthetics. Additional fitness training could improve physical fitness \& motor control and may help with stress coping during public performances. Therefore, the purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to examine whether an additional intervention to regular dance lessons influences the physical condition and musculoskeletal injury rate in professional dancers.

Conditions

Musculoskeletal Diseases

Keywords

Dance; Injury; Physical condition; Exercise

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Changes in Physical condition

  The physical condition is tested using an incremental exercise test on an electronically braked bicycle ergometer with a graded increase in workload. Fatigue during test performance is monitored every minute with a Borg scale from 6 (no fatigue) to 20 (complete exhaustion). There is continuous monitoring of electrocardiographic and ventilatory variables such as ventilation rate, respiration rate, VCO2 and VO2

  Post intervention (6 months after baseline evaluation)

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• changes in musculoskeletal injury incidence during the intervention

  during intervervention (6 months after baseline)

• changes in motor control

  post intervention (6 months after baseline)

• Changes in functional evaluation during the intervention

  Post intervention (6 months after baseline)

• Changes in Functional evaluation during follow up

  Folow up (till 18 months after baseline evaluation)

Study Arms (2)

Active Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Other: Exercise Intervention

passive intervention

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Other: Passive Intervention

Interventions

Exercise Intervention OTHER

Participants from group A receive an active program aiming at improving their cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and motor control. The level for cardiovascular training is based on the results of the maximal exercise test performed during baseline assessment. The level of training is determined at a level of 70% of the predicted maximal heart rate and was increased every 6 weeks with 5%, ending at 85%. Heart rate will be monitored during the training.

Also known as: Fitness, Motor control, Physical condition

Active Intervention

Passive Intervention OTHER

Participants from group B will receive an alternative program, in which all active parts are replaced by passive interventions. Several education sessions will be given regarding different topics, such as stress management, nutrition, injuries, etc. In addition, also practical sessions well be held to practice massage, passive stretching, taping.

Also known as: stress management, education, taping, massage

passive intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 17 Years - 27 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• students enrolled in the Bachelor of Dance at the Royal Conservatoire, Artesis Hogeschool in Lier, Belgium

You may not qualify if:

• No full time enrollment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University College of Antwerp: lead
• Universiteit Antwerpen: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Artesis University College

Antwerp, 2018, Belgium

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Roussel NA, Vissers D, Kuppens K, Fransen E, Truijen S, Nijs J, De Backer W. Effect of a physical conditioning versus health promotion intervention in dancers: a randomized controlled trial. Man Ther. 2014 Dec;19(6):562-8. doi: 10.1016/j.math.2014.05.008. Epub 2014 Jun 3.

  PMID: 24951437 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Musculoskeletal Diseases; Wounds and Injuries; Motor Activity

Interventions

Functional Laterality; Educational Status; Massage

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Dominance, Cerebral; Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Socioeconomic Factors; Population Characteristics; Therapy, Soft Tissue; Musculoskeletal Manipulations; Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics; Physical Therapy Modalities; Rehabilitation

Study Officials

• Nathalie A Roussel, PhD

  Artesis University College

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Wilfried De BAcker, PhD, MD

  Universiteit Antwerpen

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 23, 2011
• First Posted: September 26, 2011
• Study Start: September 1, 2009
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2011
• Study Completion: November 1, 2011
• Last Updated: September 26, 2011

Record last verified: 2011-09

Locations

BE (1)