Musicians are High Consumers of Complementary and Alternative Healthcare Services: The Norwegian Musicians’ Health Project

Abstract

To estimate the use of analgesic medication and manual and alternative healthcare services among Norwegian musicians compared to the general workforce. 1,607 musicians from the Norwegian Musicians' Union answered an online questionnaire about demographic characteristics, use of healthcare services, and use of medication. They were compared to a sample of the Norwegian workforce (n=2,610) from the Norwegian survey of level of living. Based on logistic regression analysis, adjusting for age, sex and education, we compared the self-reported use of different forms of healthcare services and medication in musicians to the general workforce. Musicians reported a 2-fold increased use of manual (OR 1.87, CI 1.40-2.33) and complementary and alternative healthcare services (OR 2.58, CI 2.07-3.21) compared to the general workforce. Higher proportions of use of analgesic medication (OR 1.52, CI 1.21-1.89) were also evident in musicians. Musicians, as a whole, consistently reported higher use of manual and alternative healthcare services and use of analgesic medication than the general Norwegian workforce.