Abstract
Background: Currently research into the awareness, knowledge and utilization of Chiropractic treatment for injuries amongst dancers in South Africa is lacking. The popular styles include ballet, modern, contemporary, tap, hip-hop, and ballroom dancing. Each style consists of a unique combination of specific techniques which place physical demands on the body and affect the musculoskeletal system when they are done repetitively. The rate of injury occurrence amongst dancers is high. Aim: The primary aim of this study was to describe the level of awareness, knowledge and utilization of Chiropractic treatment for injuries amongst dancers in South Africa. Method: This was a cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive study done on 80 dancers in South Africa with the use of an online survey-based platform, QuestionPro. The survey was available to be accessed by dancers across South Africa via email through a link. The dancers had to comply with the inclusion criteria, which stated that dancers had to be eighteen years or older and members within the two dance associations. The survey was emailed to the different dance associations and permission was obtained from these associations to distribute the survey to their respective dance members. Results: The study obtained 80 responses from dancers in South Africa, with a 14,5% response rate. A majority of 81,3% (n=65) of participants have sustained injuries from dancing, 26,2% (n=17) of these participants always sought treatment from a physiotherapist, while only 9,2% (n=6) of participants have always sought treatment from a Chiropractor. The most commonly affected areas involved the ankle (52,3%), knee (52,3%), and the lower back (49,2%). The most common dance styles in which the participants sustained injuries included contemporary dance (63,1%), modern dance (52,3%), and ballet dance (35,4%). Eighty five percent (n=68) of participants knew what a Chiropractor does, while 58,8% (n=47) of participants have been seen and/or treated by a Chiropractor before and 68,1% (n=32) of these participants were treated for backache, 63,8% (n=30) for dance injury, and 46,8% (n=22) for muscle pain, and 85,1% (n=40) were satisfied with their treatment. Conclusion: The level of awareness and knowledge about Chiropractic treatment amongst dancers within this study is at a moderate level, due to a very low response rate the study could not give a generalized indication of the awareness and knowledge about Chiropractic treatment amongst the dance community in South Africa. There is still a lot of information that dancers don’t know about the Chiropractic profession. The level of utilization did include more than half of the participants, but this study also demonstrated that dancers still sought help much more commonly from physiotherapists as compared to Chiropractors for their dance-related injuries.
M.Tech. (Chiropractic)