Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the
requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology:
Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / Background:
Professional orchestral string musicians are exposed to many physical and psychological stressors due to demands placed on them from playing their instruments. The prevalence of performance-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMD’s) in this highly skilled group of individuals has been investigated internationally, consistently showing a high injury rate. There is however, a paucity of literature documenting the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries in South African professional orchestral string players.
It is hypothesized that South African trained orchestral string musicians may be at a greater risk for PRMD development due to the unique training and performance environments encountered in this country.
Objectives:
This study aimed to determine the demographic and injury profile; prevalence rate of current injury and risk factors for musculoskeletal injury in South African professional orchestral string musicians.
Method:
The study utilized a self administered quantitative questionnaire distributed to all string players in the three professional orchestras in South African in a semi-supervised fashion. SPSS version 15.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) was used to analyze the data. A p value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
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Results:
There were 27 respondents, with the average participant being a Caucasian, right handed, non-smoking female, 37.11 years of age, 1.5631 meters tall, with a weight of 62.96 kilograms (BMI = 25.768) who exercised regularly (primarily in the gym). A bachelors degree in Music was the most commonly awarded qualification, obtained between the years 2000 and 2009, from a University outside of the Republic of South Africa.
The prevalence of PRMD’s in the sample was 63% (n = 17), with a 95% confidence interval of 42.4% to 80.6%.In this study there was a high rate of injury (6.53 PRMD’s per player over a 12 month period), equating to 111 reported injuries in a population of 27 string players. The upper back (defined as the area between the shoulder blades) was the most commonly injured part of the body (77.8%, n = 21), followed by the upper extremity, mainly the shoulder (70.4%, n = 19).
No statistically significant relationships were found in determining and confirming expected risk factors in the string players.
Conclusion:
Professional orchestral string musicians in South Africa suffer from a high rate of injury which is comparable to international studies of the same nature
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:dut/oai:ir.dut.ac.za:10321/542 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Hohls, Quinton Rolf |
| Contributors | Wilson, Laura Maie, Korporaal, Charmaine Maria |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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