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Psychological predictors of injuries in circus artists: an exploratory study
1McGill University, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada. ian.shrier@mcgill.ca
Objectives:
To explore the relationship between potential psychological risk factors and injury risk in circus artists.
Design:
Historical cohort study.
Setting:
Cirque du Soleil training programme.
Participants:
Forty-seven circus artists training to become Cirque du Soleil artists.
Assessment Of Risk Factors:
Artists completed the validated REST-Q questionnaire (19 domains) during their first 2 weeks of training.
Main Outcome:
Injury risk ratio.
Results:
Of the five a priori exposures of interest, injury, emotional exhaustion, self-efficacy and fatigue were associated with an increase in injury risk (risk ratios between 1.8 and 2.8), but Conflicts/Pressure was not (risk ratio=0.8). Of the several specific psychological aspects that are considered risk factors for injury, low self-efficacy had the strongest relationship.
Conclusions:
Most of the strong psychological risk factors for injuries previously identified in athletes also appear to be risk factors in circus artists.
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