Injury Surveillance of Non-professional Salsa Dance

What is it about?

BACKGROUND: The investigation sought to (1) establish the extent of injuries, (2) determine the odds of sustaining an injury, and (3) calculate the injury incidence rate in nonprofessional salsa dance. METHODS: Salsa dancers completed an anonymous web-based survey containing 11 demographic background and 10 (1 y retrospective) injury history questions. RESULTS: The response rate was 77%. The final sample of respondents included 303 women and 147 men, of which 22% and 14%, respectively, sustained ≥1 injury during salsa dance in the past year. The odds of injury was 2.00 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14-3.50) times greater (P < .05) for women than for men. Age, body mass index, and salsa dance experience were also found to be significant (all Ps < .05) predictors of injury. The injury incidence rate for women and men was 1.1 (95% CI, 0.9-1.4) and 0.5 (95% CI, 0.3-0.7) injuries per 1000 hours of exposure, respectively.

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Why is it important?

This is the first study to have described salsa dancers in terms of their injury history profile. Results indicate that the likelihood of sustaining an injury during this physical activity is similar to that of ballroom, but lower than that of Spanish, aerobic, and Zumba®, dance_