Open AccessMusculoskeletal pain in professional symphony orchestra musicians
Author(s) -
Antonina Kaczorowska,
Agata Mroczek,
Ewelina Lepsy,
Magdalena Kornek,
Agnieszka Kaczorowska,
Monika Kaczorowska,
Karolina Lepsy
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
medical science pulse
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2544-1620
pISSN - 2544-1558
DOI - 10.5604/01.3001.0015.0633
Subject(s) - visual analogue scale , physical therapy , medicine , musculoskeletal pain , symphony , body mass index , physics , acoustics
Background: A musician’s many years of professional experience may contribute to the development of painand musculoskeletal disorders. There are a few studies in Poland on gender differences in musculoskeletalpain among adult professional musicians.Aim of the study: This study aimed to assess and compare pain in Polish women and men who are professionalmusicians, as well as to analyze the relationships between the intensity and frequency of pain and thetime spent playing each week and the experience of playing the instrument in years.Material and methods: Sixty professional musicians were examined (26 men and 34 women). Pain intensitywas assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS). Participants reported the frequency of musculoskeletalsystem ailments, the location of the pain, the number of hours of playing the instrument per week, and theplaying experience in years. In addition, body weight and height were measured and body mass index (BMI)was calculated.Results: Most of the participants (94% of women and 69% of men) reported pain in the musculoskeletal system(p=0.010). Women experienced significantly greater pain in the musculoskeletal system assessed usingthe VAS (p=0.036), and also declared pain significantly more often compared to men (p=0.002). Significantpositive correlations were found between frequency of symptoms per week with the number of hours of playingper week (r=0.28), year of playing the instrument (r=0.38), and pain assessment on the VAS (r=0.57).Moreover, negative correlations were found between frequency of symptoms per week with body height(r=–0.45) and body mass (r=–0.36).Conclusions: Musculoskeletal disorders are very common among professional musicians, especially amongwomen. In general, the greater the number of hours playing per week and the longer the history of playing,the greater the pain intensity. Future research should aim to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of musculoskeletaldisorders associated with playing an instrument in different groups of musicians.