title: Fit to play: posture and seating position analysis with professional musicians - a study protocol.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Musical performance-associated musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are a common health problem among professional musicians. Considering the manifold consequences arising for the musicians, they can be seen as a threat for their professional activity. String players are the most affected group of musicians in this matter. Faults in upper body posture while playing the instrument, causing un-ergonomic static strain on the back and unergonomic limp-movements, are a main reason for musculoskeletal disorders and pain syndromes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 66 professional musicians, divided into three groups, are measured. The division is performed by average duration of performance, intensity of daily exercise and professional experience. Video raster stereography, a three-dimensional analysis of the body posture, is used to analyse the instrument-specific posture. Furthermore the pressure distribution during seating is analysed. Measurements are performed because the musician is sitting on varying music chairs differing in structure and/or construction of the seating surface. The measurements take place in habitual seating position as well as during playing the instrument.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To analyse the influence of different chairs, ANOVA for repeated measurements or Friedman-test is used, depending on normality assumptions. Comparison of posture between amateur musicians, students, and professional orchestral musicians is carried out the non-parametric Jonckheere-Terpstra-test.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our method attempts to give the musicians indications for the right music chair choice by analyzing the chair concepts, so that thereby preemptively MSD can be reduced or prevented.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, Building 9A, Frankfurt/Main, 60590 Germany.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ohlendorf
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, Building 9A, Frankfurt/Main, 60590 Germany.
authors.forename: Eileen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Wanke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biostatistics and Mathematical Modeling, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, Building 11, Frankfurt/Main, 60590 Germany.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Filmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, Building 9A, Frankfurt/Main, 60590 Germany.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Groneberg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, Building 9A, Frankfurt/Main, 60590 Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gerber
keywords: Musculoskeletal disorder; Music chair concepts; Musician; Posture analysis