InjuriesNCT06349928
"The Show Must go on" : The Experience of Injuries Among Dancers: Fears, Thoughts, and Beliefs. A Qualitative Study
An observational study of Injuries and Dancing, run by University of Siena.
Trial summary
This qualitative, cross-sectional study aims at describing the experience of Italian dancers with injury. Dancers face a high risk of sustaining one or more injuries during their career (87-94%), which may lead to physical, psychological, and socioeconomic consequences affecting dancer's lives and careers both short… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Any ageHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Injuries, Dancing, Injury;Sports
- What is being tested?
- Focus group or interview
- How many people
- 40 participants
- Where
- No sites listed yet
- Study dates
- 1 Apr 2024to 1 Apr 2025
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages Any age
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Study population: Dancers and pre-professional dance students who train 8 hours/week or more
Who may be able to join
- Individuals who train in dance (any style) 8 hours/week or more
- Individuals who ususally train in dance 8 hours/week or more but have temporarilly suspended their activity due to injury or other condition
Who cannot join
- Individuals who do not wish to partecipate or do not give consent to data treatment
- Individuals who do not speak Italian or English
Trial locations and contacts
No sites are listed yet.
About this study
Official title: "The Show Must go on". The Experience of Injuries Among Dancers: Fears, Thoughts, and Beliefs. A Qualitative Study
This qualitative, cross-sectional study aims at describing the experience of Italian dancers with injury.
Dancers face a high risk of sustaining one or more injuries during their career (87-94%), which may lead to physical, psychological, and socioeconomic consequences affecting dancer's lives and careers both short and long-term.
Read more
Dancers report fearing injury and its consequences and believing in the existence of a stigma around injury and injured colleagues; many of them also try to self-manage pain and delay reporting injuries to healthcare professionals, possibly making its outcomes worse.
This study will collect data from dancers via focus groups and individual interviews, investigating dancers' experiences, thoughts, and beliefs about injury. Records from the interviews will be transcribed ad verbatim and analyzed using the framework method to synthetize the data and highlight the most meaningful content.
Understanding dancers' thoughts and behaviors regarding past or possible future injuries may be beneficial in improving treatment efficacy and designing adequate education and prevention strategies. It may also help raise awareness of dancers' complex and unique needs, and the importance of having accessible, specialized professionals around dance companies and schools.
Read the detailed description
The dance world is a complex setting characterized by high injury risk, high competitivity, high prevalence of risk-taking behaviors, low socio-economic support and a cultural exaltation of sacrifice and pushing through pain and injury to go dancing. With the rapid development of dance medicine and science in the last few decades, it has been highlithed that dancers face a high risk of sustaining one or more injuries during their career, which often come with harsh physical, psychological and economic consequences.
Recent studies show that a great number of dancers are afraid of injury and believe in the existence of a "stigma" surrounding injury and injured colleagues; those who stop dancing report feelings of isolation, insecurity and low confidence in full recovery.
In addition to this, dancers often delay seeking medical attention and treatment when they suspect an injury and try to keep dancing through pain (ignoring symptoms, modifying their activity and/or using painkillers) or relay on non-medical specialist, possibly worsening the outcomes of said injury.
There seems to be a negative halo surrounding injury, and also a mismatch between the high medical needs of the dance population and their healthcare-seeking behaviors.
Research shows trends are slowly getting better in context where dance medicine is well developed and easily available to dancers, especially in larger dance companies, but there is still much to be done.
This research aims to describe the experience of dancers with injury to understand the reasons behind their thoughts and behaviors. Untangling the complex dancer-injury-context relationship will help in in improving care delivery efficacy and designing adequate and specific education and prevention strategies.
Collecting data from questionaires and semi-structured interviews, this study will investigate:
- What is perceived as "injury" by dancers and what will mean for them to sustain an injury
- How dancers cope with pain and behave when suspecting an injury
- What dancers think of a colleague who has to stop dancing because of an injury, and what role their specific context (teachers, choreographers, caregivers) play in this
- What dancers think will help in reducing injury risk and bargain, if they believe it possible
- The functional status of dancers taking part in the interview, past or present history of injury, Dance Functional Outcome Score (DFOS) This research will employ qualitative methods to collect and analyze data, allowing in-depht exploration of dancers' opinions and experiences.
Volounteer participants will be recruited from dance schools and companies in different locations around Italy.
Focus group interviews will be arranged within small groups of dancers (4-8 at a time), accommodating participants in individual interviews if logistical or personal challenges arise. Anagraphic data and the DFOS will be collected by questionnaires prior to the interviews.
The interviews will be sistematically recorded and transcribed ad verbatim to undergo the process of qualitative analysis using the framework method, allowing to extract the most recurrent themes and highlight meaningful insights.
Results from this research may help in improving care delivery efficacy and designing adequate and specific education and prevention strategies, promoting dancers' physical and psychological well-being.
- Conditions
- Injuries, Dancing, Injury;Sports, Stress, Psychological
- Being tested
- Focus group or interview
- Keywords
- Dancing, Injury, Qualitative research, Injury, sports, Dancer, Anxiety, Fear, Prevention, Quality Assurance, Health Care, Stress, Psychological, Ballet, Modern dancing
- Medical subject headings
- Wounds and Injuries, Athletic Injuries, Stress, Psychological, Anxiety Disorders
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Focus group or interviewOther
Focus groups and qualitative interview will be conducted with dancers investigating thoughts, beliefs and behaviors related to injury. Individual interviews (in presence or online) will be hold as alternative if it will not be possible (due to logistical or personal problems) to participate in a focus group or if the number of people who would have agreed to participate in that focus group is less than 3
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Dancers | Dancers or dance students who pracitce at least 8 hours/week Receives: Other: Focus group or interview |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Experience and perception of injury amongst dancers
Evaluation of dancers' experience and perception of injury, including the meaning of the term "injury", description of injury-related behaviors that happend in the past or may be applied in the future, description of injury-related emotions (such as fear), and thoughts.
Information will be collected via semi-structured interviews and then undergo qualitative analisys
Measured: 120 minutes
Secondary outcomes (1)
Understanding of injury prevention and pain management amongst dancers
Evaluation of what dancers believe to be injury prevention and how they manage pain in their activity. Information will be collected via semi-structured interviews and then undergo qualitative analisys
Measured: 120 minutes
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted5 Apr 2024
- Study start1 Apr 2024 (estimated)
- Primary completion30 Oct 2024 (estimated)
- Study completion1 Apr 2025 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (3)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for InjuriesStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Siena
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Elisabetta Bigi, University of Siena
- Investigators
- Elisabetta Bigi, BA, Principal investigator, University of Siena
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06349928
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- MASF_Dancers01
- Status last verified
- Mar 2024
- First submitted
- 31 Mar 2024
- Last updated
- 5 Apr 2024
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Undecided: Recording will be anonymised and transcripted verbatim. This anonimised material could be shared with other researchers on request
Publications
McEwen K, Young K. Ballet and pain: reflections on a risk-dance culture. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health (2011) 3:2, 152-173
Vassallo AJ, Pappas E, Stamatakis E, Hiller CE. Injury Fear, Stigma, and Reporting in Professional Dancers. Saf Health Work. 2019 Sep;10(3):260-264. doi: 10.1016/j.shaw.2019.03.001. Epub 2019 Mar 23.
PubMed 31497323Air M. Health care seeking behavior and perceptions of the medical profession among pre- and post-retirement age Dutch dancers. J Dance Med Sci. 2009;13(2):42-50.
PubMed 19508808
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 5 Apr 2024. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- "The Show Must go on". The Experience of Injuries Among Dancers: Fears, Thoughts, and Beliefs. A Qualitative Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06349928
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- MASF_Dancers01
- Conditions
- Injuries, Dancing, Injury;Sports, Stress, Psychological
- Keywords
- Dancing, Injury, Qualitative research, Injury, sports, Dancer, Anxiety, Fear, Prevention
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Unknown status
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of SienaUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 1 Apr 2024 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- 30 Oct 2024 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 1 Apr 2025 (estimated)
- First posted
- 5 Apr 2024 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This qualitative, cross-sectional study aims at describing the experience of Italian dancers with injury.
Dancers face a high risk of sustaining one or more injuries during their career (87-94%), which may lead to physical, psychological, and socioeconomic consequences affecting dancer's lives and careers both short and long-term.
Dancers report fearing injury and its consequences and believing in the existence of a stigma around injury and injured colleagues; many of them also try to self-manage pain and delay reporting injuries to healthcare professionals, possibly making its outcomes worse.
This study will collect data from dancers via focus groups and individual interviews, investigating dancers' experiences, thoughts, and beliefs about injury. Records from the interviews will be transcribed ad verbatim and analyzed using the framework method to synthetize the data and highlight the most meaningful content.
Understanding dancers' thoughts and behaviors regarding past or possible future injuries may be beneficial in improving treatment efficacy and designing adequate education and prevention strategies. It may also help raise awareness of dancers' complex and unique needs, and the importance of having accessible, specialized professionals around dance companies and schools.
Detailed description
The dance world is a complex setting characterized by high injury risk, high competitivity, high prevalence of risk-taking behaviors, low socio-economic support and a cultural exaltation of sacrifice and pushing through pain and injury to go dancing. With the rapid development of dance medicine and science in the last few decades, it has been highlithed that dancers face a high risk of sustaining one or more injuries during their career, which often come with harsh physical, psychological and economic consequences.
Recent studies show that a great number of dancers are afraid of injury and believe in the existence of a "stigma" surrounding injury and injured colleagues; those who stop dancing report feelings of isolation, insecurity and low confidence in full recovery.
In addition to this, dancers often delay seeking medical attention and treatment when they suspect an injury and try to keep dancing through pain (ignoring symptoms, modifying their activity and/or using painkillers) or relay on non-medical specialist, possibly worsening the outcomes of said injury.
There seems to be a negative halo surrounding injury, and also a mismatch between the high medical needs of the dance population and their healthcare-seeking behaviors.
Research shows trends are slowly getting better in context where dance medicine is well developed and easily available to dancers, especially in larger dance companies, but there is still much to be done.
This research aims to describe the experience of dancers with injury to understand the reasons behind their thoughts and behaviors. Untangling the complex dancer-injury-context relationship will help in in improving care delivery efficacy and designing adequate and specific education and prevention strategies.
Collecting data from questionaires and semi-structured interviews, this study will investigate:
- What is perceived as "injury" by dancers and what will mean for them to sustain an injury
- How dancers cope with pain and behave when suspecting an injury
- What dancers think of a colleague who has to stop dancing because of an injury, and what role their specific context (teachers, choreographers, caregivers) play in this
- What dancers think will help in reducing injury risk and bargain, if they believe it possible
- The functional status of dancers taking part in the interview, past or present history of injury, Dance Functional Outcome Score (DFOS) This research will employ qualitative methods to collect and analyze data, allowing in-depht exploration of dancers' opinions and experiences.
Volounteer participants will be recruited from dance schools and companies in different locations around Italy.
Focus group interviews will be arranged within small groups of dancers (4-8 at a time), accommodating participants in individual interviews if logistical or personal challenges arise. Anagraphic data and the DFOS will be collected by questionnaires prior to the interviews.
The interviews will be sistematically recorded and transcribed ad verbatim to undergo the process of qualitative analysis using the framework method, allowing to extract the most recurrent themes and highlight meaningful insights.
Results from this research may help in improving care delivery efficacy and designing adequate and specific education and prevention strategies, promoting dancers' physical and psychological well-being.
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Dancers | – | Other: Focus group or interviewDancers or dance students who pracitce at least 8 hours/week |
Who may qualify
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- Dancers and pre-professional dance students who train 8 hours/week or more
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Individuals who train in dance (any style) 8 hours/week or more
- Individuals who ususally train in dance 8 hours/week or more but have temporarilly suspended their activity due to injury or other condition
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Individuals who do not wish to partecipate or do not give consent to data treatment
- Individuals who do not speak Italian or English
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Focus group or interviewFocus groups and qualitative interview will be conducted with dancers investigating thoughts, beliefs and behaviors related to injury. Individual interviews (in presence or online) will be hold as alternative if it will not be possible (due to logistical or personal problems) to participate in a focus group or if the number of people who would have agreed to participate in that focus group is less than 3 | Other | Dancers |
Primary outcome
Experience and perception of injury amongst dancers
Time frame: 120 minutes
Evaluation of dancers' experience and perception of injury, including the meaning of the term "injury", description of injury-related behaviors that happend in the past or may be applied in the future, description of injury-related emotions (such as fear), and thoughts. Information will be collected via semi-structured interviews and then undergo qualitative analisys
1 secondary outcome
Understanding of injury prevention and pain management amongst dancers
Time frame: 120 minutes
Results and safety
Results are not available in the source record.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 5 Apr 2024.
- BackgroundMcEwen K, Young K. Ballet and pain: reflections on a risk-dance culture. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health (2011) 3:2, 152-173
- Results publication: PubMed 31497323Vassallo AJ, Pappas E, Stamatakis E, Hiller CE. Injury Fear, Stigma, and Reporting in Professional Dancers. Saf Health Work. 2019 Sep;10(3):260-264. doi: 10.1016/j.shaw.2019.03.001. Epub 2019 Mar 23.
- Results publication: PubMed 19508808Air M. Health care seeking behavior and perceptions of the medical profession among pre- and post-retirement age Dutch dancers. J Dance Med Sci. 2009;13(2):42-50.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Undecided. Recording will be anonymised and transcripted verbatim. This anonimised material could be shared with other researchers on request
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Elisabetta Bigi, BA principal investigator
University of Siena
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Injuries and Dancing, run by University of Siena.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 5 Apr 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Results are not available in the source record.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Elisabetta Bigi, BA (+393703205690, elisabetta.bigi@studenti.unisi.it), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Experience and perception of injury amongst dancers (time frame: 120 minutes). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06349928, which also lists 3 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 5 Apr 2024.