Musician-specific illnesses attract more and more research interest. In order to assess the counseling and treatment needs of musicians, meaningful studies are missing so far. Our aim is to record and scientifically evaluate existing treatment concepts and treatment options for musicians with music-specific problems or illnesses that affect music making in a cross-sectional study using qualitative and quantitative research methods.

In the study, a questionnaire and an interview will be used to determine which music-specific problems have occurred in musicians (professional and amateur), which therapy methods were recommended for which complaints in previous treatment, if the therapy instructions were followed, if there were self-treatments Specialists were involved in how the treatment outcome was, whether the musicians felt well cared for, which improvements in the treatment process would be desirable from a musician's perspective and how many days of incapacitation existed due to music-specific complaints. The study is intended to recruit a total of 50 musicians of all ages who turn to the network for complaints that may have arisen as a result of music making or have had a negative effect on making music.

The outcome measures include the prevalence of medical-related complaints, previous treatment routes, prescribed therapies, general health-related quality of life (SF-12), Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire for Musicians (MPQM), body self-efficacy, days of inability to work due to specific symptoms, and lifestyle. The days and indication of taking medication will continue to be recorded. After the quantitative survey, a qualitative survey (interviews) will be carried out in addition to the satisfaction with the previous treatment and possible wishes / improvements in the treatment in the future.

Project leader: Prof. Dr. med. Alexander Schmidt
Project realisation: Ulrike Wiedersberg, Dr. med. Dipl.-Mus. Isabel Fernholz
Project collaboration: Ulrike Stasun, Dr. med. Gabriele Rotter, Prof. Dr. med. Stefan N. Willich

As part of a systematic literature review, the existing literature on osteopathic therapy and supplementing manual therapy methods in the treatment of adult musicians was researched. A systematic literature search was carried out in electronic medical and osteopathic databases, supplemented by a hand search. Intervention studies and observational studies were included to treat adult professional and amateur musicians with play related musculoskeletal complaints and functional limitations through osteopathic therapy and manual therapy methods. The quality of the identified randomized controlled trials was assessed.

Project management: Dr. med. Gabriele Rotter, MSc.
Project realisation: Marie-Sophie von Bockum-Dolffs, MPH, MSc
Project collaboration: Dr. med. Dipl.-Mus. Isabel Fernholz, Prof. Dr. med. Dipl. Mus. Alexander Schmidt, PD Dr. med. Cornelia Weikert, Dr. med. Dr. Sports Sci. Tobias Schmidt

In a two-arm, randomised, controlled intervention study (osteopathie vs. control) the effectiveness, therapeutic safety and cost-effectiveness of osteopathic treatment on cervical pain in professional orchestral, soloist or major music students (instrument violin and/or viola) with chronic cervical spine syndrome should be evaluated. The intervention group will receive 5 osteopathic treatments with an intervention duration of approx. 45-60 minutes at intervals of approx. 2 weeks in addition to a specific music medical consultation and medication with paracetamol 500 mg up to 4 times daily; the comparison group will receive specific music medicine advice and medication with paracetamol 500 mg up to 4 times a day alone. After 12 weeks, patients in this group can also receive osteopathy on request. A target group of 100 professional musicians (18-65 years old) with chronic cervical syndrome is recruited. The primary outcome measure is the extent of subjective pain in the cervical area on a visual analogue scale at 12 weeks after treatment start.

Publication: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1759720X20979853

Project management: Prof. Dr. med. Benno Brinkhaus
Project realisation: Dr. med. Gabriele Rotter
Project cooperation: Dr. med. Dipl.-Mus. Isabel Fernholz, Prof. Dr. med. Alexander Schmidt, Margit Cree