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When Helping Hurts: A Survey of Performance-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Music Therapists
Hannah Ivey Bush1, SueAnn Woods, Christa Lilly
1West Virginia University School of Medicine Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America.
Objective:
This study examined the rate of performance-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMD) in music therapists.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey was sent to all actively board-certified music therapists in the United States.
Results:
A provisional estimate of 84% (n=642) of this sample of music therapists reported experiencing PRMD in their lifetime, with wrists/hands being most injured. Risk factors associated with increased odds of injury included multiple occupational factors and job stress. Most music therapists reported experiencing mild disability in the past week. A variety of psychological factors were associated with higher levels of current disability while one social factor contributed to lower current disability scores.
Conclusions:
Occupational injury in music therapists is high with a variety of work-related risk factors. Despite when they were initially injured, most participants were still working with mild levels of disability.
