Pain and Posture of Children and Adolescents Who Learn the Accordion as Compared with Non-Musician Students.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the effect of practicing the accordion on pain and posture of children and adolescent students. METHODS: Pain and posture (forward head posture, scapular posture, and lumbar lordosis) were compared between two groups of preparatory and secondary school students, matched for age and sex: those who took accordion lessons (accordionists, n=16) and those who never studied a musical instrument (non-musicians, n=16). RESULTS: Students taking accordion lessons reported significantly more pain in the shoulder, wrist/hand, and thoracic regions (p<0.05), showed significantly more forward head posture (accordionists, median ± interquartile distance [IQ] distance = 35.6° ± 7.8°; non-musicians = 45.3° ± 10.8°; p<0.05), and significantly increased lumbar lordosis (accordionists, median ± IQ distance = 55.5° ± 30.6°; nonmusicians = 39.0° ± 3.9°; p<0.05). No significant differences were found for scapular posture between groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that children and adolescents who play the accordion have an increased forward head posture and lumbar lordosis and a tendency to report more pain than children and adolescents who do not play a musical instrument. Results corroborate the need for including healthy preventive teaching-learning strategies at music conservatoires.

Pain prevalence in instrumental musicians: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate current prevalence of pain among different musician groups, sex, and body region. METHODS: Studies were sought from PubMed, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Science Direct, and Scielo. Databases were searched from 1 January 2000 until December 2012. Two reviewers screened titles and abstracts and assessed full reports for potentially eligible studies. One reviewer extracted information on musicians' characteristics, study methods, and study quality. When possible, a meta-analysis of pain prevalence estimates was performed. RESULTS: A total of 18 studies were included in this systematic review. Studies assessed pain prevalence in general and the prevalence of pain affecting playing capacity for different time periods: point, 1-week, 1-year, month, and lifetime prevalence. The prevalence of pain in general, across all groups of musicians and periods of interest over which pain was assessed, varied between 29.0 and 90.0%, whereas the prevalence of pain affecting playing capacity varied between 25.8 and 84.4%. There was a tendency for guitar players to have the highest pain prevalence. The most affected body regions were the low back (9.8 to 66.7%) and neck (9.8 to 48.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Pain prevalence is high among musicians, independent of the pain definition and time period used. Health and educational policy makers should become aware of the high prevalence of pain affecting performance practices, so that pain-associated mechanisms are investigated and preventive strategies are tested and implemented.