Development of a new instrument for measuring the musculoskeletal load and physical health of professional orchestral musicians.
OBJECTIVE
To develop questionnaire and physical examination instruments that could be used by researchers and clinicians to undertake a detailed baseline assessment of professional orchestral musicians.


METHODS
The final instruments were based on a combination of areas of interest to the musicians, areas of interest to the investigators, evidence-based approaches, and approaches in common use and so likely to have standardised results that can be used for comparison.


RESULTS
The questionnaire content and length were found to be acceptable to the subjects. There did not appear to be any major problems with the subjects' interpretation of the questions. Most subjects found the physical examination protocol of suitable length, although some found it physically demanding. The multiple assessors were able to apply the protocol in a suitably standardised fashion and within an acceptably short time for use in large-scale studies.


CONCLUSIONS
The questionnaire and physical examination protocol should prove useful to researchers working with professional musicians and provide a sound basis for the development of similar instruments by other researchers.
Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Lidcombe, NSW, Australia. Bronwen.Ackermann@sydney.edu.au
Bronwen
B
Ackermann
Tim
T
Driscoll
D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000592:standards; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D009146:Music; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011187:Posture; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D016474:Weight-Bearing; D016526:Workload