Assessing of posture behavior and playing-related musculoskeletal pain among music students: A cross-sectional study

Music students are more at risk for musculoskeletal pain than their peers. Improper posture during playing is a key factor causing musculoskeletal pain in propose group. The aims of study were to assess musculoskeletal pain and postural behavior, and to obtain the related factors with the presence of musculoskeletal pain among music students. 

A conservatory-based cross-sectional study was performed from October 2021 to November 2021 through convenience method. Data (demographic characteristics and pain level) were collected using a self-report questionnaire, Numeric Pain Rating (NPR) scale and Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) respectively. Music students’ postures were assessed using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) method. Data was analyzed using SPSS, version 24.0. Descriptive statistics were used to explore the data. Correlation and chi-square tests were applied to investigate the relationship between the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and study variables. The significant level was considered at <0.05. 

The results showed that 150 (56.2%) participants presented at least one symptomatic region in the last seven days. The most frequent areas of pain were the neck, shoulders, lower back and wrists/hands. Female students have reported musculoskeletal pain (P=0.047) and pain intensity (P=0.006) more than male students. Students who played more times per week (P<0.001) or had improper posture behavior (P=0.019), have reported musculoskeletal pain significantly. There was no significant relationship between history of playing, types of instruments, and age with pain. 

Finding showed that musculoskeletal pain was a major health problem among music students. This study highlights the need to providestrategies to prevent playing-related musculoskeletal pain among music students.