Abstract
Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions among professional musicians and music students are frequent and may have significant physical and psychosocial consequences on their lives and/or on their playing abilities. The Risk of Music Students (RISMUS) research project was set up in 2018 to longitudinally identify factors associated with increased risk of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) in a large sample of music students enrolled in pan-European institutions. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe the prevalence of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) in this novel population at baseline of the RISMUS project. A further goal was to begin to identify variables that might be associated with the self-reported presence of PRMDs among music students. Eight hundred and fifty students from fifty-six conservatories and music universities in Europe completed a web-based questionnaire on lifestyle and physical activity participation levels, musical practice habits, health history and PRMDs, psychological distress, perfectionism and fatigue. A total of 560 (65%) out of 850 participants self-reported a positive history of painful MSK conditions in the last 12 months, 408 (48%) of whom self-reported PRMDs. Results showed that coming from West Europe, being a first- or a second-year Masters student, having more years of experience and higher rates of perceived exertion after 45 minutes of practice without breaks were factors significantly associated with self-reported presence of PRMDs. According to the authors' knowledge, a large-scale multicentre study investigating prevalence and associated factors for PRMDs among music students at different stages of their education (from Pre-college to Masters levels) has not been conducted before. The high prevalence of PRMDs among music students, especially those studying at university-level, has been confirmed in this study and associated factors have been identified, highlighting the need for relevant targeted interventions as well as effective prevention and treatment strategies.
Highlights
Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions are a common concern in the general population and the most prevalent cause of serious, long-term pain and physical disability, affecting 25% of all adults across European countries [1,2,3,4]
The term playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) was introduced by Zaza et al in 1998 (“any pain, weakness, numbness, tingling, or other symptoms that interfere with your ability to play your instrument at the level you are accustomed to”) to identify musculoskeletal symptoms that interfere with the ability to play the instrument [12]
A total of forty subjects were excluded from the analysis because they did not meet the inclusion criteria and 10 subjects were excluded because they were not able to determine if their MSK condition was a PRMD
Summary
Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions are a common concern in the general population and the most prevalent cause of serious, long-term pain and physical disability, affecting 25% of all adults across European countries [1,2,3,4]. Jobs with frequently repeated movements and high physical demands in combination with psychosocial stress symptoms are often associated with MSK conditions [5,6,7,8]. In this regard, musicians represent a profession associated with MSK and psychosocial demands [9,10] that may limit their physical abilities, having a significant impact on their performances [11,12] and a marked effect on their lives [9,10,13,14]. Several studies revealed that there were positive associations between the presence of MSK conditions and psychological stressors (i.e. anxiety and stress, depression and perfectionism) [15,18,19,20]
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