%0 Journal Article
%T Injury Patterns and Injury Rates in the Circus Arts: An Analysis of 5 Years of Data From Cirque du Soleil
%J American journal of sports medicine
%D 2009
%A Shrier, Ian
%A Meeuwisse, Willem H.
%A Matheson, Gordon O.
%A Wingfield, Kristin
%A Steele, Russell J.
%A Prince, Francois
%A Hanley, James
%A Montanaro, Michael
%V 37
%N 6
%P 1143-1149
%X 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>
%G en
%I SAGE Publishing
%@ 0363-5465
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0363546508331138