Secondary School Musicians Hazards

In December 1988, two articles on the subject of medical problems in secondary school musicians appeared in the journal Medical Problems of Performing Artists.  While there has been substantial research on the population of professional performing musicians and their reported musculoskeletal problems, younger individuals have been less thoroughly studied.  These studies indicate that musical students in secondary school orchestras are suffering the same medical problems as professional musicians.

In the first article, Dr. Alan Lockwood administered questionnaires to musically skilled high school students at the High School for Performing Arts, and members of the Houston Youth Symphony - these two groups having members who played an average of 19 hours per week, (22.5 and 17.4 hours per week respectively).  Students graded their problems related to playing an instrument on a scale of 0 to 5.  A grade of 0 meant "I have never had any pain..." and a grade of 5 was exemplified by the statement "I have had pain that was so severe that I was unable to use the affected part of my body for any purpose."  When the two groups were combined (because of similarity in response), 51% indicated no problem (grade 0), 32% reported mild problems, and 17% indicated more severe problems.  No one reported grade 5 medical problems.  Problems were higher among females than males (68% and 47% respectively).  This difference in reporting between gender is consistent with research in older populations.  Problems were more common in those who played large stringed instruments.  79% of the respondents said that they believed pain was acceptable in overcoming technical difficulties. 

The author concluded that the high prevalence of medical problems in this population of hard-working secondary school-aged musicians pointed to potential problems in the future, stating that education of music teachers should include upper extremity conditioning programs as a feature of the students' specific curriculums.  Lockwood stressed the need for proper physical conditioning for prevention of injury.

In the second article, Hunter, Ross, and Rutherford studied 98 musicians who regularly participated in their high school orchestras in Australia.  Responses to a questionnaire were obtained during a rehearsal.  These responses were compared with an age- and sex-matched control group that completed a similar questionnaire excluding musical activity.   63% of female musicians and 49% of males reported pain with playing musical instruments, as compared to 12% of girls and 14% of boys in the control group.  The pain in the control group was mostly related to writing.  The pain in the musicians lasted from 6 months to 4 years in 35% of girls and 22% of boys.  The authors stated it was not clear if the higher incidence of pain in girls was real or partly due to underreporting by boys.

References:

Lockwood, A.: "Medical Problems in Secondary School-aged Musicians,"  Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 129 (December 1988).

Fry, H., Ross, P. and Rutherford, M: "Music-Related Overuse in Secondary Schools", Medical Problems of Performing Artists, 133 (December 1988).

Art Hazard News, Volume 12, No. 8  1989

This article was originally printed for Art Hazard News, © copyright Center for Safety in the Arts 1989. It appears on CAR courtesy of the Health in the Arts Program, University of Illinois at Chicago, who have curated a collection of these articles from their archive which are still relevant to artists today.