IngentaConnect Occupational Diseases in Performing Artists

Abstract:

Occupational diseases in recent years have come to the attention of many professionals in various industries. Workers in virtually every area of work are affected in some way by occupational considerations concerning injuries whether they are acute injuries or cumulative trauma.

In the United States, roughly 130,000 people earn their living as instrumental musicians. Many more perform regularly, either as part time professionals, at school, or in independent amateur groups. Hand and wrist disorders are common in these performers. Performers are experiencing medical problems directly related to their profession as instrumental musicians. The disorders have more of an impact on musicians because the pain or inflammation is usually the direct result of the very activity that defines their existence. Unlike the workman's compensation patient, there is usually no alternate work that can be performed in place of the original duties.

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of occupational diseases in performing artists and possible solutions that would fall into the realm of Industrial Hygiene and Ergonomics. We will examine the correlation between age and the prevalence of injuries associated with instrumentalists. The possibility of an additional risk factor associated with gender, and whether or not this risk factor is a dependent or an independent variable with respect to specific instruments is investigated. Also, the evolution of modifying existing instruments and the facilitation of developing new mediums of choice in producing music will be examined.