Dancing (activity, Apparel Or Equipment)
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Sports Protective Equipment & Gear · CPSC Code 3278
Down 22% over 5 years
The verdict
Dancing (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) carry a danger score of 40/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 54,311 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 22% over the last five years.
- 40/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 54,311
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 3.4%
- end in hospital admission
- 15-24
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 3278 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 40/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for dancing (activity, apparel or equipment) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume54,311 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)3.4%
- Fatality rate0.07%
- 5-year trend-22%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Dancing (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) (CPSC product code 3278, in the Sports Protective Equipment & Gear category) generate an estimated 54,311 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 1.1M ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 40/100 for this category (moderate risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are declining by about 22% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2017 (65,839 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (34,110 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for dancing (activity, apparel or equipment) is strain, sprain to the knee, accounting for approximately 121,177 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by strain, sprain to the ankle (116,981 cases). The 15-24 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 354,896 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 3.4% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.07%) result in fatality.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how dancing (activity, apparel or equipment) fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 11,120 | 22,722 | |
| 5-14 | 40,994 | 206,901 | |
| 15-24 | 88,644 | 266,237 | |
| 25-34 | 43,589 | 103,910 | |
| 35-44 | 21,682 | 65,052 | |
| 45-54 | 18,748 | 55,966 | |
| 55-64 | 14,010 | 44,948 | |
| 65-74 | 8,142 | 32,554 | |
| 75+ | 9,904 | 30,782 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Knee | Strain, Sprain | |
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain | |
| Knee | Other | |
| Knee | Dislocation | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Foot | Strain, Sprain | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Foot | Fracture | |
| Wrist | Fracture | |
| Ankle | Fracture | |
| Wrist | Strain, Sprain | |
| Foot | Other |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
23YOF HYPEREXTENDED KNEE WHILE DANCING LAST NIGHT, DX SPRAINED KNEE
23YOF WAS DANCING WHEN FELT POP IN LEFT KNEE DX:INTERNAL DERANGEMENT OF KNEE
44YOF WAS OUT DANCING TWO NIGHTS AGO WHEN SHE FELL ONTO BUTTOCKS DX FRACTURED SACRUM
35YOF STATES SHE INVERTED KNEE WHILE DANCING, DX SPRAINED KNEE
88YOF PT HAD A FALL @ ASSISTED LIVING WHILE DOING A POLKA DANCE, TRIPPED &I HIT HEAD ON FLOOR DX: SCALP LAC
50YOM PATIENT REPORTS HE WAS DANCING AND THE NEXT DAY HE WOKE UP WITH SIGNIFICANT SWELLING OF THE KNEE. DX: LEFT KNEE PAIN
16 YOF DANCING AND TURNED TWISTED ANKLE DX ANKLE INJURY
29 YOF WAS DANCING 2 DAYS AGO AND FELT A SNAP IN HER KNEE. DX: TIBIAL PLATEAU FRACTURE
7YOM PT WAS 'BREAK DANCING' IN BASEMENT WITH SISTER; WHIPPLED LEFT ARM AROUND CAUSING IT TO DRAG ON FLOOR DX: LEFT ELBOW PAIN
76YOF, COMPLAINS OF RIGHT SIDED RIB PAIN AFTER SLIPPED AND FELL WHILE DANCING, DX: CLOSED FRACTURE OF ONE RIB OF RIGHT SIDE
15YOF, *** DANCER, OVER THE PAST 2 WEEKS NOTICED WORSENING LOW BACK PAIN, CAN'T RECALL SPECIFIC TRAUMA, DX: ACUTE LOW BACK PAIN
13YOF WAS DANCING AT SCHOOL WHEN SLIPPED TWISTING RIGHT ANKLE DX: STRAINED ANKLE
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to dancing (activity, apparel or equipment) on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are dancing (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, dancing (activity, apparel or equipment) have a danger score of 40/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 54,311 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from dancing (activity, apparel or equipment)?
The most common injury is strain, sprain to the knee, accounting for approximately 121,177 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from dancing (activity, apparel or equipment) increasing or decreasing?
Down 22% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for dancing (activity, apparel or equipment) injuries?
The 15-24 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 354,896 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by dancing (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Of all ER visits involving dancing (activity, apparel or equipment), approximately 3.4% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (96.6%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with dancing (activity, apparel or equipment)?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Sports Protective Equipment & Gear
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 40/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 15-24 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
