Effect of an Exercise Program Designed for Orchestral Musicians

Effect of an Exercise Program Designed for Professional Orchestral Musicians on Performance-related Musculoskeletal Problems - a Randomized Controlled Trial

This study is a randomized clinical trial evaluating the effect of an exercise program designed specifically for orchestral musicians on performance-related musculoskeletal problems (PRMPs). Professional and conservatory-level orchestral musicians will be recruited. Half of the subjects will participate in an 11-week home exercise program and attend three group exercise sessions and an educational presentation on injury prevention, while the other half of the subjects will receive no intervention, and continue their usual activities.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Musculoskeletal Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Exercise program and education

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Quebec
    • Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, G1M 2S8
      • CIRRIS

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• professional or freelance orchestral musician, or tertiary-level full-time music student majoring in an orchestral instrument
• able to commit to performing exercises 2 times per week over an 11-week period
• medical condition permitting participation in an exercise program (ie. no serious heart or lung condition that may be exacerbated by physical exertion)

Exclusion Criteria:

• presence of musculoskeletal injuries definitively non-related to musical practice or performance
• fewer than 15 hours per week playing their instrument
• corticosteroid infiltration in the 6 weeks preceding recruitment
• prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs or neurontin in the 3 weeks preceding recruitment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Exercise program and education; An exercise program in the form of home exercise videos will be given to the participants in this group. They will be asked to perform a minimum of two 35-minute exercise sessions per week, over a period of 11 weeks. They will also be required to attend three group exercise sessions, to confirm correct execution of the exercises. A short educational presentation on injury prevention will be offered at the beginning of the study, followed by three informative e-mails over the course of the study.	Other: Exercise program and education; The exercise program comprises warm-ups, exercises and cool-downs and aims to improve recruitment, strength and endurance of postural muscle groups that are key to the work of a musician. Basic activation exercises progress to dynamic and resisted exercises as well as functional musical movements. There is a series of six exercises of increasing difficulty for each of the following bodily regions: hips, back, neck, shoulders and abdominals. Topics to be discussed in the educational presentation and e-mails include healthy practice habits, activity dosage, the importance of physical activity, how the body adapts to workload and physical stressors, and instructions pertaining to the exercise program.
No Intervention: No intervention; Participants in this group will be asked to continue their usual activities.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Musculoskeletal Pain Intensity and Interference Questionnaire for professional orchestra Musicians (MPIIQM)	A biopsychosocial self-report questionnaire used to obtain demographic and occupational information and to document the intensity and impact of performance-related musculoskeletal pain/problems	Baseline-11 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ)	Self-report questionnaire on pain/symptom prevalence in the different regions of the body	Baseline-11 weeks
Global Rating of Change	Questionnaire designed to quantify participants' perceived improvement or deterioration over the course of the study	11 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Laval University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 8, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 17, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): November 17, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 18, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 18, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): September 20, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 12, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 8, 2018
• Last Verified: June 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Musculoskeletal Diseases
• Other Study ID Numbers: Orch musicians

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No