Balance comparisons between female dancers and active nondancers

Female dancers have lower anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury rates compared with physically active women. Enhanced balance can decrease musculoskeletal injury risk. Dancers are proposed to have superior balance compared with physically active nondancers, and this may reduce their risk for ACL injury. However, whether female dancers actually have better balance than active nondancers is unclear.

Thirty-three women (15 dancers, 18 nondancers) performed the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS; error scores), the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT; percent leg length), and the Modified Bass Test of Dynamic Balance (BASS; maximum score = 100).

Dancers had fewer errors on the BESS than did nondancers (p < .001, 12.0 +/- 6.9 vs. 25.3 +/- 9.1). Dancers also had greater SEBT reach distances in the medial (right, p = .03, 90.4 +/- 4.2% vs. 86.5 +/- 5.5%; left, p = .04, 90.7 +/- 4.5% vs. 86.7 +/- 5.9%) and posteromedial directions (right, p = .01, 92.6 +/- 5.6% vs. 87.0 +/- 6.4%; left, p = .01, 93.9 +/- 6.3% vs. 87.9 +/- 6.3%), but not in the anteromedial direction (right, p = .23, 84.5 +/- 4.4% vs. 86.2 +/- 3.5%; left, p = .51, 86.4 +/- 3.5% vs. 85.5 +/- 4.0%). BASS scores were similar between groups (p = .58, 90.6 +/- 5.5 vs. 91.7 +/- 56).

The novel findings of the study are that dancers had greater balance than did nondancers in some but not all tests. Although dancing may improve balance as compared with not dancing, it is not better than physical activity in improving balance. Thus, balance comparisons between dancers and nondancers may not fully explain why female dancers exhibit low ACL injury rates compared with physically active women. Other factors (e.g., anticipated/unanticipated movement demands) should be examined to understand the ACL injury disparity between dancers and physically active women.