Citation

Vahedi H, Taft CM, Daum JR, Dabash S, McCulloch PC, Lambert BS. Sports Med. Health Sci. 2021; 3(3): 157-164.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, KeAI)

DOI

10.1016/j.smhs.2021.08.002

PMID

35784521

PMCID

PMC9219303

Abstract

We recently observed a high prevalence of low pelvic bone mineral density (BMD) in female professional ballet performers. Because this population is susceptible to musculoskeletal overuse injuries, we aimed to determine which regions of the pelvis may be at greatest risk compared to general population females (GENPOP) as well as professional female soccer players (SOCCER, a comparison to other elite athletes regularly subjected to high degrees of loading). Three groups of age-matched females [(GENPOP; n = 38, 27±1yrs), (BALLET; single company, n = 36, 26±3yrs), (SOCCER; single NWSL® club, n = 34, 25±1yrs)] consented to have their BMD and body composition assessed (DEXA, GE®). In addition to soft tissue and total and regional BMD analyses, a segmental analysis of the pelvis was performed to determine site-specific BMD for the iliac fossa, iliac fossa/iliac crest/ilium combined, pubic bone, ischium, and sacrum. A mixed-model ANOVA followed by a Tukey's post-hoc test was used to compare the groups (Type-I error; α = 0.05). The BALLET group had lower pelvic BMD for all measures (Avg.%Diff. = 15%-27%, p<0.001) compared to the SOCCER group and for the ischium (Avg.%Diff.= 8%; p=0.007) and sacrum (Avg.%Diff. ​= ​7%; p = 0.028) compared to the GENPOP group. The BALLET group had lower lean mass for all measures compared to the other groups (Avg.%Diff. = 12%-18%; p < 0.01). Professional ballet performers exhibit reduced pelvic region soft tissue and site-specific BMD not previously detected using standard DEXA analyses. These findings highlight which pelvic regions may benefit from preventative strength training and/or nutritional interventions.

Language: en

Keywords

Bone; 95%CI, 95% Confidence Interval; Athlete; Ballet; BALLET, Professional Female Ballet Performers; BMD, Bone Mineral Density (g/cm2); Bone density; DEXA, Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry; ES, Effect Size (Cohen's d for continuous data, Phi statistic for frequency comparisons); Female athlete; FMI, Fat Mass Index (Fat Mass, kg / height, m2); Fossa, Iliac Fossa; GENPOP, General Population Females; IC-F-I, iliac crest, iliac fossa, ischium, combined; ICC, Interclass Correlation Coefficient; LMI, Lean Mass Index (Lean Mass, kg / height, m2); SOCCER, Professional Female Soccer Athletes (Major League Soccer, MLS®)