The article entitled 'Factors associated with increased risk of playing-related disorders among classical music students within the Risk of Music Students (RISMUS) longitudinal study' has been published in Scientific Reports Nature, a prestigious multidisciplinary open access journal and one of the most cited in the world. The article represents the final PhD research work of Cinzia Cruder, researcher at SUPSI's Laboratory for Research in Rehabilitation (2rLab), which was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). For SUPSI, Marco Barbero and Emiliano Soldini, who collaborated on the methodology and data interpretation, also took part in the project.
Although playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) are common among musicians, there are still few longitudinal studies on the risk factors for this phenomenon.
The primary objective of the RISMUS project was therefore to identify through a longitudinal study the factors associated with an increased risk of occurrence of PRMDs among music students enrolled in different pan-European music institutions over a 12-month period.
To achieve this, a group of 442 students without musculoskeletal disorders and from 56 European music universities were asked to complete an online questionnaire with questions about their lifestyle and music practice habits, their medical history, level of physical activity practised, psychological distress, perfectionism and level of fatigue.
The occurrence of PRMD was assessed after 6 and after 12 months.
The data collected showed that changes in the level of physical activity performed, increased levels of fatigue and perfectionism were significantly associated with the onset of PRMDs, which occurred in 49% of the participants during the 12-month period.
The results of this new longitudinal study could significantly influence future preventive strategies to minimise the impact of these disorders on the professional practice and lives of musicians.
Bibliographical information
The complete article is available on the following page:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1038/s41598-023-49965-7?utm_source=rct_congratemailt&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oa_20231222&utm_content=10.1038/s41598-023-49965-7