Performance injuries among musicians have been widely discussed for decades. However, despite the growing number of classical pianists, this is still a new issue in Malaysia. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the level of knowledge of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) among tertiary music students in Malaysia. A survey was conducted among classical piano students at tertiary institutions of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Out of 192 respondents, 76% knew that piano playing can cause PRMDs. Slightly over three-quarters of respondents (77.1%) learned about PRMDs from music educators. The survey revealed that the belief in "no pain, no gain" was still ingrained in their minds, as 50.5% respondents believed that pain experienced while playing the piano was normal and 51.6% of them considered that pain must be experienced to improve their piano skill. The respondents were also scored on questions on terminologies of pianist injury and specific PRMD examples: 7.8% of respondents scored high in the questions on the general terminology, while 99.5% of them scored low in the questions on the specific examples of PRMDs. This finding indicated a lack of knowledge of specific musicians' injuries among classical piano students. The attitudes to pain and the level of understanding of the significance of potential injuries indicate that increasing PRMD awareness and introducing courses on PRMD prevention at tertiary institutions are warranted.

Musicians are at risk of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMD) with incidence ranging from approximately 30% to 90% in the shoulder-arm-hand region and within the spine. Pianists are one of the high risk groups of PRMD due to the nature of playing posture and practice habits. The number of pianists in Malaysia has increased significantly due to the growth of music programmes in tertiary institutions. Although extensive research has been carried out into PRMD for decades, investigation of PRMD among pianists in Malaysia is very limited.  This paper aimed to identify the extent of PRMD occurring among classical piano students in tertiary institutions in Malaysia. A survey was conducted and 192 set of data collected through administration of a questionnaire. Results showed that 35.8% (68) students reported having PRMD, of whom 17.6% were male (12) and 82.4% (56) were female. There is a great necessity to introduce ways to prevent PRMD which was reported at various levels among classical piano students.     Keywords: Playing-related musculoskeletal disorders, classical piano students, music