Acta clinica Croatica, Vol. 62. No. 1, 2023.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.20471/acc.2023.62.01.25
Vitamin D and Injuries in Dancers: A Systematic Review
Marija Rakovac
orcid.org/0000-0003-0098-4938
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Kinesiology, Zagreb, Croatia
Dubravka Sajković
orcid.org/0000-0002-9532-8222
; Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Vitamin D is involved in many different functions in the human body. Despite the
well-known benefits of vitamin D and increasing trends of testing and supplementation, there is still a
high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency worldwide, present in the general but also in the highly-active
population such as athletes and dancers. Dancers are at a higher risk of vitamin D deficiency due to
their long working hours spent indoors, without exposure to sunlight. The high level of workload and
physical demands also put dancers at a high risk of injuries. The aim of this review was to systematically
analyze the existing evidence on the association of vitamin D (serum level and supplementation)
and injuries in dancers. Medline, Scopus, SportDiscus and Web of Science were searched to identify
the available peer-reviewed articles. Five articles met the inclusion criteria (two interventional and
three observational studies), three of which additionally investigated the relationship between vitamin
D and muscle function. The reported results on positive influence of vitamin D serum level or vitamin
D supplementation effect on reduced injury occurrence and enhanced muscular function in adolescent
and elite professional ballet dancers are promising but the evidence is limited due to a low number of
studies, small samples, and methodological limitations.
Keywords
Dance; Ballet; Injury; 25-Hydroxyvitamin D2; Muscle strength; Physical fitness; Supplementation
Hrčak ID:
307299
URI
Publication date:
1.4.2023.
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