title: Strategies to promote health and prevent musculoskeletal injuries in students from the high conservatory of music of Salamanca, Spain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present investigation was intended to evaluate the effectiveness of a course on health and the prevention of musculoskeletal injuries in future professional musicians, specifically designed for superior-grade students at the High Conservatory of Music of Salamanca, Spain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Students were taught how to evaluate the possible risks associated with the practice of their instruments. They were provided with information about the most frequent medical problems of musicians, warm-up habits, postural hygiene, effective prevention strategies, and different treatment options for these pathologies. The students were randomly divided into two groups: a control group (n=56) who did not take the course and was evaluated with a questionnaire at the beginning of the academic year and 1 year later, and an experimental group (n=90) who did take the course and was evaluated with three questionnaires (at the beginning of the course, 6 months later, and 12 months after the start of the course).
  
  
  RESULTS
  While the students in the experimental group improved their body awareness by 91% and the frequency of their injuries decreased by 78%, there was no improvement in the students from the control group at the end of the experiment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of our study have demonstrated the effectiveness of this type of course and show that such courses should be included in the academic curriculum of superior conservatories.
authors.affiliation: Conservatorio Superior de Música en Salamanca, Lazarillo de Tormes No 54, 37005 Salamanca, Spain. musicosylesiones@gmail.com
authors.forename: Tomás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Martín López
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Farías Martínez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009146:Music; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010146:Pain / Q000517:prevention & control; D013030:Spain; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult