Urinary Incontinence and Low Energy Avaliability in Professional and Pre-professional Dancers: a Cross-sectional Study

June 4, 2026 updated by: Elisabetta Bigi, University of Siena

Urinary Incontinence and Low Energy Avaliability in Professional and Pre-professional Female Dancers: a Cross-sectional Study

The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of Urinary Incontinence amongst professional and pre-professional dancers and its relation to Low Energy Avaliability

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Urinary incontinence is a widespread issue among the female athletic population, negatively impacting both performance and lifestyle. The discipline of dance subjects the pelvic floor to repeated stress, which, as in other sports, could lead to the development of incontinence and other pelvic symptoms. Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) syndrome is caused by a prolonged and problematic energy deficit, or Low Energy Availability (LEA), and could be one of the contributing factors to the development of urinary incontinence (UI). The world of professional dance is characterized by a high risk of RED-S; nonetheless, few studies have investigated the prevalence of urinary incontinence and its relationship with low energy availability in this context.

This study aims at investigating the prevalence of urinary incontinence and the risk of relative Low Energy Availability (LEA) in a population of professional and pre-professional female dancers, and secondarily, to study the correlation between these two parameters and their impact on the participants' quality of life and performance.

Data Collection: Administration of validated Italian questionnaires for self-reported urinary incontinence (International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire - Urinary Incontinence Short Form or ICIQ-UI SF) and for the risk of Low Energy Availability (Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire or LEAF-Q) via Google Forms. All data will be collected anonymously.

Statistical Analisys: Based on the data distribution (normal or non-normal), the most appropriate descriptive statistics will be used, along with Student's t-test or the Mann-Whitney test, calculating the 95% confidence interval for all variables under study (pages 4-5 of the research project).

All analyses will be conducted using SPSS (version 26 or later) and, for specific verifications, JASP (version 0.96.0).

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Italy
      • Siena, Italy, 53100
        • University of Siena

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy professional and pre-professional dancers aged 18+

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Professional dancers (must have danced professionally, with a work contract in the last 6 months) OR pre-professional student (currently enrolled in a high-level dance academy or pre-professional course)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Current or previous pregnancy
  • Low level of Italian or English language

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Urinary Incontinence
Time Frame: 12 months
Prevalence of Urinary Incontinence
12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Low Energy Avaliability
Time Frame: 12 months
Low energy avaliability risk is defined by a score <8 at the LEAF-Q
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Siena

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 4, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 4, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 10, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 10, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 4, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • LEA_UI_Dancers

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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