Prevalence Of Hypermobility Syndrome By Sex And Age Group In A General Vs Dance Population

PURPOSE: Performing artists face unique health challenges. Hypermobility is an issue faced by many, especially dancers where up to 50% can experience this issue. This study evaluates the prevalence of hypermobility syndrome in a general population and compares it to reported prevalence in dancers. METHODS: A large (64 million) commercial claims database (primarily representing employer-based health plan patients / families) and associated analysis tool were used. Patients were included in analysis if they had enrollment for at least one day between January 1, 2016 and January 31, 2023, had two reported diagnoses of Hypermobility Syndrome (ICD-10 M357) within 1 year OR 1 diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos (ED) hypermobile syndrome (ICD-10 Q7962) during the time window and were 8 to 34 years old at initial diagnosis. The prevalence of hypermobility syndrome was calculated within age cohorts 8-17 and 18-34 and diagnosis rates between males and females were compared. Overall health care costs for patients continuously enrolled one year post-diagnosis were calculated over that year. A similar cost analysis was conducted among patients with no hypermobility syndrome diagnosis within a one-year window assigned by a random date pointer. RESULTS: 46,584 patients were identified with an initial hypermobility diagnosis, 23,402 had a confirmatory diagnosis within one year of the first or one ED diagnosis, and 14,057 had continuous enrollment 1 year post initial diagnosis. The prevalence of hypermobility syndrome in the confirmed population was <1 %. Within each age cohort, females (80%) were more likely to be diagnosed with hypermobility syndrome than males (p-value <0.01). Overall health care costs one year post-diagnosis were almost three times higher for patients with hypermobility syndrome compared to those without that diagnosis (p-value <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Results show that hypermobile syndrome is significantly greater in females vs males in both a dance and general population. However, the diagnosis is much more prevalent in a dance (reported up to 50%) vs general 8-34-year-old population. Finally, general population (and probably dance) patients with hypermobile syndrome show significantly higher one year post-diagnosis health care costs than a non-diagnosed cohort.