Prevalence and associated factors of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders among music students in Europe. Baseline findings from the Risk of Music Students (RISMUS) longitudinal multicentre study

PLoS One. 2020 Dec 9;15(12):e0242660. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242660. eCollection 2020.

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.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Europe / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Musculoskeletal Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Music*
  • Prevalence
  • Risk Factors
  • Self Report
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

The research data reported in this article is part of RISMUS: A longitudinal investigation of the factors associated with increased RISk of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders in Music students, an investigation funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant ref. 10531C_182226) and supported by Queen Margaret University-Edinburgh for the fulfilment of a PhD research award. This funding source had no role in the design of this study and will not have any role during its execution, analysis and interpretation of the data.