Scoliosis in Dancers

Abstract

Scoliosis is reportedly a common clinical presentation in classical dancers and has been associated with an increased incidence of stress fracture, hypoestrogenism, and muscle imbalance. However, standardized measurement protocols have not been instituted for the population of dancers in the mass-screening environment, nor have criteria for diagnostic and referral ranges been clearly established in this population. This paper describes a cost-effective, reliable, valid, and clinically relevant method of screening scoliosis in dancers and reports on the findings from 947 classically-trained adult dancers screened for scoliosis using this method over a three year period. By the criteria we established, 8% of the dancers screened possessed a scoliotic curve that merited referral to a spine specialist for further evaluation. Dancers with axial asymmetries also reported a higher incidence of amenorrhea and back pain than dancers without asymmetries.