[Job-related satisfaction and health perception of dance teachers].

Background: The dance teacher's own body is considered to be the central working instrument within the movement mediation. Up to now there is a lack of knowledge about the subjective perception of one's own occupationally associated health and satisfaction as well as the identification of occupational characteristics that are detrimental to health.

Material and methods: Within the framework of a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey, a cohort of dance teachers in Germany were investigated about dimensions of their own health and general job satisfaction in connection with their profession as a dance teacher. Likert scales were primarily used for these assessments. Additionally, general anthropometric and sociodemographic characteristics were recorded. Beside examining the overall cohort, gender-specific differences were tested. The statistical analysis included n = 232 dance teachers (male 51/female 181) aged 43.1 ± 11.0 years.

Results: The general state of health was rated as satisfactory (26.1%) to very good (14.7%) by 85.3% of those surveyed. Of the dance teachers 59.2% even rated their health as good (35.3%) to very good. There was a high degree of satisfaction with their own professional practice for 80% of the participants. Most of the dance teachers felt that they were able to deal with the physical (75.7%) and psychological demands of their profession (70.3%). In addition to fears about the future (51.5%), the main burdensome professional characteristics on dance teachers' self-perception were organizational aspects of work (lack of time for family and friends in 28.4%) and economic aspects (income insecurity in 61.0% and lack of old age security in 65.7%).

Conclusion: The profession as a dance teacher is accompanied by a high level of general satisfaction and a positive perception of one's own state of health. A confirmation of these positive results by injury and illness statistics is still pending. In addition, an improvement in work organization and economic aspects would be desirable.