A Systematic Review of Irish Dance Screening Tests

Abstract

Introduction: Screening tests are used in the dance population to assess musculoskeletal status, neuromotor function, psychological wellness, performance capacity, nutrition, and medical history. Several screening tests have been developed over the past 20 years. To date, no review of screening tests for Irish dancers has been conducted. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the screening tests utilized in the Irish dance population. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane, Medline, CINAHL, ERIC, and SPORTDiscus medical databases were independently searched by three researchers for articles using the keywords “Irish AND Danc*” AND “Test* OR assess* OR screen* OR evaluat*” Inclusion criteria was full text articles and published in English. Two independent reviewers conducted the data extraction and appraised each article using the National Institute of Health’s quality assessment tests. Results: Of the 75 articles found prior to deduplication, twenty-nine articles met inclusion criteria. After full-text review, 22 articles were accepted for our review. Most of the articles (59%) achieved good-quality methodological scores, seven articles (32%) achieved fair-quality scores, and two articles (9%) achieved poor-quality scores. During the data extraction process, over 50 screening tests were identified and categorized as either a subjective or objective test or measure. Subjective screening tests were placed in one of the following categories: descriptive data, general health, eating habits, sleep habits, psychological well-being, or injury surveillance. Objective screening tests were placed in one of the following categories: anthropometric tests, strength/power tests, cardiovascular tests, functional/movement tests, flexibility/mobility tests, balance/coordination tests, or other. No screening test was found to be validated for Irish dancers. Conclusion: The content of screening tests among the Irish dance population is varied, without standardization of norms to specific age and level of Irish dancer. Future studies should focus on validating screening tests in the Irish dance population.