Prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among university undergraduates following Sri Lankan traditional dancing

Dancing is a demanding form of art that consists of a purposefully selected series of human movements presented in a rhythmic way. However, Dancers represent a medically under-served occupational group who are at high risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Injury prevention among dancers has become challenging due to the dearth of research in the field. Therefore, a cross-sectional survey to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among Sri Lankan traditional dancers is vital of need. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the prevalence of common musculoskeletal injuries among university undergraduates who follow Sri Lankan traditional dancing. This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study that included undergraduate students from four local universities. Stratified sampling method was used to select 293 participants and an online questionnaire was used to collect data. Among the three types of traditional dancing styles, many were following Kandyan dancing: 45.1%. Out of the study sample, 190 dancers (64.84%) reported injuries with males indicating the highest rate of injuries (36.87%). The most common injury types reported were strain and sprain. Kandyan dancers reported the highest number of injuries (p<0.025), contributing to the highest rate of injury due to strains (19.45%). Twirls and prolonged mandiya positions are found to be the common mechanisms that cause injuries. Only 10.6% of the participants approached physiotherapy treatments after an injury. According to the findings of the current study, there is a significant rate of dancing-related injuries among Sri Lankan traditional dancers.