917 EP035 – Self-reported injuries and prevention strategies of breaking athletes

Background Breaking is an urban dance style characterized by acrobatic movements performed at the rhythm of music. The number of athletes involved in the Breaking increased with the recent inclusion at the Paris 2024 Olympics Games. The complexity of movements combined with the rising competitive events could increase the risk of musculoskeletal injuries in breaking athletes. Objective To describe the perception of injury and the use of prevention strategies of Breaking athletes. Design Cross sectional study. Setting An online semi-structured survey with professional and amateur Breaking athletes. Participants Nineteen athletes (Male=18; Female=1; 28,2(±4) years; mean Breaking experience=11,6 years) took part. Assessment of risk factors An online survey was applied, with the following categories: (1) self-reported injuries; (2) self-reported prevention strategies. Descriptive statistics and qualitative research methods were used to perform a thematic analysis. Main Outcome Measurements Self-reported injury prevalence; and categories resulting from the thematic analysis of the self-reported prevention strategies. Results From 19 dancers, 100% had reported breaking-related injuries and 73,7% (n=14) reported at least one pain episode with incapacity and limitation on training. All athletes (100%) related that is possible to prevent injuries and the self-reported prevention strategies were: "warm up of the body before practice" (n=19), for example: "using breaking movements in a slower and easier way"; and "muscle stretching before training, including neck, shoulders, knees, legs and back" (n=19). As a recovery strategy after injury, the dancers self-reported: "rest time" (n=18; 94,7%), "load control on the training" (n=5; 26,3%); "specific treatment" (n=5; 26,3%), including a physiotherapist care just in one case. Conclusions In conclusion, the breaking athletes of this sample experienced injuries and used few prevention strategies, despite they believe that is possible to prevent injuries. To improve dance performance and decrease the risk of injuries, prevention programs could be incorporated on routine of breaking athletes.