The Prevalence of Playing-related Musculoskeletal Disorders of Traditional Korean Musical Instrument Player

Abstract

Objective: This study was performed to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders of traditional Korean instrument player using a variety of traditional classical instruments: Gayageum, Geomungo, Ajaeng, Haegeum, Daegeum, Piri and Samul instruments. Background: A large percentage of instrument players have suffered from the musculoskeletal pain of each body parts. However, there is no research on the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders of traditional Korean musical instrument players. Method: Through the focus group interview, a questionnaire to investigate musculoskeletal disorders was developed. The questionnaire consisted of four parts: demographic factors, performance factors, musculoskeletal disorders symptoms, musculoskeletal disorder experience. For the survey, 118 expert players participated. The data from the survey were analyzed by correlation analysis and chi-square analysis. Results: The symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders and the severe pain from musculoskeletal disorders were observed at neck, shoulder, back and knee. The musculoskeletal experience was statistically related to the factor of body height in Gayageum and Geomungo. In addition, the musculoskeletal experience in Geomungo was related to age and career. However, the musculoskeletal experience in Ajaeng and Haegeum was only related to the factor of hobby. The musculoskeletal experience in Daegeum and Piri was related to stretching. In addition, there was a statistical significance between the musculoskeletal experience and sex in Daegum. In Samul instruments, the statistical significance was observed at age, BMI, career and stretching. Conclusion: The symptoms of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders of traditional Korean musical players were prevalently observed at neck, shoulder, back and knee. In addition, these symptoms were related to the various demographic factors such as age, body height, BMI, career, sex, hobby and stretching. Application: The results of this study can be used as the preliminary data for preventing the musculoskeletal injuries of traditional Korean musical instrument players.