Clinical Manifestations of Overuse Injury in Musicians

Seo, Kyoung Mook; Seo, Kyung Ho; Kim, Sung Won

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To know the clinical features of overuse injury in performing musicians and to evaluate related factors that may affect the overuse injury and playing related pain.
METHODS
Eighty professional musicians and music college students were examined during 1 year. All were examined by a history taking, physical examination, radiologic exam and if needed electromyography. Nonparametric Sperman's correlation were used for the statistic analysis and 5 interval grading system, visual analog scale for pain, and stress, criteria of joint hypermobility were used for various measurements.
RESULTS
Fifty four men were studied in 3 music colleges and a professional orchestra. Frequency of symptom was 46.3%. The string players were most frequently affected (65%), whereas the wind instrument players were least frequently affected (11.5%). The most commonly affected site was the hand and wrist (54.2%) followed by the spine. Patients were divided by the severity into 5 groups and among them the grade 1 was most common (29.6%). No significant correlation was seen between the practice hours per week but a significant correlation was noted between the stress and playing related pain. Joint hypermobility plays an important role in music playing which is dependent on the kind of instruments.
CONCLUSION
Incidence of the overuse injury in musicians is high in Korea and the prevention and early treatment are essential for the good outcome of overuse syndrome.