Analysis of the chronic lower limb injuries occurrence in step aerobic instructors in relation to their working step class profile: a three year longitudinal prospective study.

BACKGROUND

There is limited information on injury patterns in Step Aerobic Instructors (SAI) who exclusively execute "step" aerobic classes.

OBJECTIVE

To record the type and the anatomical position in relation to diagnosis of muscular skeletal injuries in step aerobic instructors. Also, to analyse the days of absence due to chronic injury in relation to weekly working hours, height of the step platform, working experience and working surface and footwear during the step class.

METHODS

The Step Aerobic Instructors Injuries Questionnaire was developed, and then validity and reliability indices were calculated. 63 SAI completed the questionnaire. For the statistical analysis of the data, the method used was the analysis of frequencies, the non-parametric test χ<formula>^{2}</formula> (chi square distribution), correlation and linear and logistic regressions analysis from the SPSS statistical package.

RESULTS

63 SAI reported 115 injuries that required more than 2 days absence from step aerobic classes. The chronic lower extremity injuries were 73.5%, with the leg pain, the anterior knee pain, the plantar tendinopathy and the Achilles tendinopathy being most common overuse syndromes. The working hours, the platform height, the years of aerobic dance seem to affect the days of absence due to chronic lower limb injury occurrence in SAI.