Inter-rater reliability of a musculoskeletal screen as administered to female professional contemporary dancers.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the inter-rater reliability of commonly used musculoskeletal screening components in a population of contemporary professional dancers.

Participants: Study participants were 30 women from six contemporary dance companies between the ages of 18 and 32, with a mean age of 24, and Body Mass Index of 22.4.

Methods: 101 items were assessed in the categories of Static Posture, the Beighton 9-Point Hypermobility Test, Flexibility, Strength, and Dynamic Posture, based upon the Pilot 2006 Dance USA Annual Post-Hire Health Screen for Professional Dancers. Testing was non-ordered, using 2 of the 4 available testers, with variable assignment of the lead tester.

Results: High percent agreement was found for the subcategories of hallux valgus, pelvic tilt, and forefoot alignment, flexor hallucis, iliopsoas, hip internal rotation flexed, external rotation extended, and soleus extensibility, composite Beighton, and for most measures within the dynamic posture category. Low to moderate percent agreement was found in the strength tests.

Conclusion: Although this study demonstrated moderate to high percent agreement between raters, further test refinement is needed to improve the reliability of the measurement components.