Why do we need to investigate non-classical musicians to reduce the burden of musicians’ musculoskeletal symptoms?

Abstract

Musculoskeletal symptoms (MSSs) are common among professional musicians; however, most of the research has focused on orchestral/ classical musicians. In some countries orchestral and classical musicians are in the minority; hence targeting research towards these specific subgroups of musicians is unlikely to address the overall burden of musicians' MSSs, unless the research is generalizable to other types of musicians. This multidisciplinary narrative review seeks to answer the question: "why do we need to examine the MSSs of non-classical groups of performing musicians in order to reduce the burden of musicians' MSSs?". There are differences in the education, posture, tasks (e.g. military training for military band musicians, dancing for those in musical theatre), venues and management of MSSs for different types of musicians. Future research should compare classical and non-classical musicians in order to determine which specific subgroups (e.g. military band musicians) have the greatest MSS burden, such that further research into the risk factors of and interventions for MSSs can be targeted towards the subgroups of musicians with the greatest MSS burden. In doing so, we maximise the likelihood of being able to introduce interventions, policies and practice that reduce the burden of musicians' MSSs.

Should musicians play in pain?

“…orchestras, that do not have understudies or replacements trained up to fill in for musicians on leave. 29,90 Although impractical for these ensembles, this problem in itself is not sufficient to recommend that musicians keep playing when in pain, but should be included with other considerations when determining whether musicians should play in pain.…”

Are adult amateur musicians at ‘high risk’ of experiencing musculoskeletal symptoms?

“…There were also relatively low numbers of woodwind, brass, bowed string and percussion instrumentalists, with guitar, piano and singing being the predominant musical activities. This bias may influence our results; both in terms of the biomechanical demands specific to their instruments, as well as the genres and ensembles they tend to engage with (Stanhope and Weinstein 2019). To better inform whether community musicians specifically need to consider MSS prevention and management, future studies should compare people engaged in community music, with appropriate comparison groups.…”

The effect of strategies to prevent and manage musicians’ musculoskeletal symptoms: A systematic review

“…Indeed, if there had been more homogeneity a meta-analysis could have been conducted which would have strengthened the findings of our review. Furthermore, the generalisability of the findings from one sub-group of musicians to another cannot be assumed; 30,74 this is particularly true of interventions regarding instrument-or setting-specific interventions (e.g. the use of different chairs will only be relevant for musicians who sit, and Yoshimura and Chesky's 61 findings are only relevant to piano players).…”

“…24 There has been insufficient research conducted into nonclassical musicians to compare their risk of MSS outcomes with classical musicians; something which must be addressed if we are to reduce the burden of musicians' MSSs. 30,74 It will also be important to consider the potential risk factors for the priority sub-groups of musicians, potentially refocusing research towards these groups. However, stratified analysis of large, broad studies of musicians (including for instance musicians of different genres and career stages), would not only allow for investigation of priority groups, but would also begin to inform the generalisability of the research findings, for the purposes of making r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s f o r i n t e r v e n t i o n .…”