@article{ref1,
title="Injury Patterns and Injury Rates in the Circus Arts: An Analysis of 5 Years of Data From Cirque du Soleil",
journal="American journal of sports medicine",
year="2009",
author="Shrier, Ian and Meeuwisse, Willem H. and Matheson, Gordon O. and Wingfield, Kristin and Steele, Russell J. and Prince, Francois and Hanley, James and Montanaro, Michael",
volume="37",
number="6",
pages="1143-1149",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Human circus arts are gaining increasing popularity as a physical activity with more than 500 companies and 200 schools. The only injury data that currently exist are a few case reports and 1 survey. HYPOTHESIS: To describe injury patterns and injury rates among Cirque du Soleil artists between 2002 and 2006. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. METHODS: The authors defined an injury as any work-related condition recorded in an electronic injury database that required a visit to the show therapist. Analyses for treatments, missed performances, and injury rates (per 1000 artist performances) were based on a subset of data that contained appropriate denominator (exposure) information (began in 2004). RESULTS: There were 1376 artists who sustained a total of the 18 336 show- or training-related injuries. The pattern of injuries was generally similar across sex and performance versus training. Most injuries were minor. Of the 6701 injuries with exposure data, 80% required </=7 treatments and resulted in </=1 completely missed performance. The overall show injury rate was 9.7 (95% confidence interval, 9.4-10.0; for context, published National Collegiate Athletic Association women's gymnastics rate was 15.2 injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures). The rate for injuries resulting in more than 15 missed performances for acrobats (highest risk group) was 0.74 (95% confidence interval, 0.65-0.83), which is much lower than the corresponding estimated National Collegiate Athletic Association women's gymnastics rate. CONCLUSION: Most injuries in circus performers are minor, and rates of more serious injuries are lower than for many National Collegiate Athletic Association sports.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0363-5465",
doi="10.1177/0363546508331138",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0363546508331138"
}