Development of a new instrument for measuring the musculoskeletal load and physical health of professional orchestral musicians

Objective: To develop questionnaire and physical examination instruments that could be used by researchers and clinicians to undertake a detailed baseline assessment of professional orchestral musicians. Methods: The final instruments were based on a combination of areas of interest to the musicians, areas of interest to the investigators, evidence-based approaches, and approaches in common use and so likely to have standardised results that can be used for comparison. Results: The questionnaire content and length were found to be acceptable to the subjects. There did not appear to be any major problems with the subjects' interpretation of the questions. Most subjects found the physical examination protocol of suitable length, although some found it physically demanding. The multiple assessors were able to apply the protocol in a suitably standardised fashion and within an acceptably short time for use in large-scale studies. Conclusions: The questionnaire and physical examination protocol should prove useful to researchers working with professional musicians and provide a sound basis for the development of similar instruments by other researchers.