Systematic Registration and Longitudinal Monitoring of Predisposing Factors and Acute/Emergent Events of Higher Vocational Schools' Students.

Dance, as a physical activity, is considered as one of the most demanding activities at a young age with a high rate of acute and emergent events (AEE). Although dancers perform movement combinations that require high athletic ability, often their physical fitness levels appear to be unexpectedly low and the majority of them will experience at least one injury a year. Determination of the AEE predisposing factors in dancers is necessary to reduce their percentage rates, and until now no systematic prospective study has been conducted in a Greek population of vocational dance schools' students to register both the AEE themselves and their possible predisposing factors.

The primary objective of the study is to register the risk factors for the AEE occurrence in students at Higher Vocational Schools of Dance in Athens and their long-term follow-up. Secondary objectives are to register potential AEE during an academic year and to investigate possible correlations of the above parameters, both among themselves and with socio-demographic, anthropometric, psychometric and medical characteristics of the sample. Finally, a translation and cross-cultural adaptation to a Greek population of the Dance Functional Outcome Survey (DFOS) scale will be carried out.

This is a prospective cohort study with the study population being adult students of 8 Higher Vocational Schools of Dance in Athens. A registration of socio-demographic, anthropometric and medical characteristics, as well as an electrocardiogram, will be carried out at the beginning of the academic year. Core stabilization, balance, body composition, aerobic capacity, dance motor control, dance functional ability, quality of life, fatigue, depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, performance satisfaction, risk for developing eating disorders, athletic burnout, and predisposition to psychological flow will be registered at the beginning and at the end of the academic year.