Injury Patterns in Hip Hop Dancers

Hip hop dance is becoming increasingly popular. It is performed in a variety of environments and can be fused with other dance styles. There is limited research on this dance demographic. The object of this study was to record and assess the injury patterns and diagnoses of hip hop dancers who presented to a dancer injury clinic at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) in London over a 5-year period. Of the 800 patients who attended the clinic, 73 (28 males, 45 females) identified themselves as hip hop dancers. The mean age of these dancers was 26.1 years (± 6.59 years). The majority were professionals (49%) and the next largest group was students (31.5%). The most common site of injury was the knee (36%), followed by the lumbar spine (19%) and the foot and ankle (15%). The site of injury appeared to be influenced by the sub-style of hip hop the dancer performed. There were gender differences in knee injuries; male dancers predominantly sustained meniscal injuries (45%) and female dancers primarily sustained patellofemoral pain (60%). All lumbar disc injuries were at the L5/S1 level. These results are comparable to those of previous studies investigating injury in hip hop dancers. More research is needed to explore injury etiology, develop injury prevention measures, and increase awareness of the injury complexities in this dance population