Musicians’ illness perceptions of musculoskeletal complaints

The purpose of this study is to know the views of people about their illness, i.e., illness perceptions, determine coping strategies, and outcome. Previous research suggests a higher prevalence and a different perception of musculoskeletal complaints between musicians and nonmusicians. The aim of this study is to compare illness perceptions related to musculoskeletal complaints between musicians and nonmusicians. In this cross-sectional study, students from three music academies (n = 345) and one university medical center (n = 2,870) in the Netherlands received an electronic questionnaire concerning questions on sociodemographic characteristics, use of musical instruments, occurrence and characteristics of musculoskeletal complaints in the past year, and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ). Baseline and B-IPQ scores were compared between the samples by means of t tests, chi-square tests, and regression models to adjust for differences in sociodemographic characteristics. Eighty-three music academy students and 494 medical students completed the questionnaire (response rates, 25.5 and 17.6 %, respectively). Seventy-four (89 %) persons in the musician group and 382 (78 %) persons in the nonmusician group reported occurrence of musculoskeletal complaints during the last 12 months. Adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, the B-IPQ scores of the domains consequences (my illness is a serious condition), concern (I am extremely concerned about my illness), and emotions (my illness makes me scared) were significantly higher among musicians, whereas personal control (there is little I can do to improve my illness), identity (number of symptoms patient sees as part of illness) were not significantly different. Music academy students had a significant more positive score on treatment control. Music academy students report more negative perceptions of their musculoskeletal complaints compared to medical students. Although some selection bias is present, this is supposed to have a minor effect on the outcomes of this study. Addressing illness perceptions in musicians with musculoskeletal complaints could have beneficial effects on physical and functional outcomes.