Musculoskeletal Injury and Physical Complaint Burden, Core Endurance, and Balance in Female Hip-Hop Dancers

Hip-Hop dance is physically demanding, yet epidemiological data in female dancers remain limited. This mixed observational cohort study described musculoskeletal injury and physical complaint burden, evaluated core endurance and balance, compared female Hip-Hop dancers with healthy non-dancer controls, and examined associations with prospective complaints. Adult female Hip-Hop dancers (n = 31) and controls (n = 34) completed the McGill test battery, Unipedal Stance Test, and modified Star Excursion Balance Test. Dancers also reported prior-year injuries and musculoskeletal complaints and were followed for 12 weeks to record physical complaints and dance exposure. Dancers and controls showed similar anthropometric characteristics, core endurance, and balance scores (all p > 0.05). Musculoskeletal complaint incidence exceeded injury incidence during the previous year (46.1 vs. 0.72 per 1000 dance hours). During follow-up, 41.9% of dancers reported at least one physical complaint, corresponding to 36.6 physical complaints per 1000 dance hours. Trunk extensor endurance was inversely associated with physical complaint counts, whereas prior-year injury and musculoskeletal complaint counts were positively associated. Female Hip-Hop dancers demonstrated substantial overuse-related physical complaint burden despite relatively low injury incidence.