ERGONOMICS OF TUBA PLAYING – SURVEY ON COMPLAINTS AND COPING STRATEGIES USING FOCUS GROUPS

I. Koenig¹, R. Martin², L. Radlinger¹, M. Leitner¹, P. Eichelberger¹, A. von Steiger²

Background: In musicians, the mean prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders is between 25-93%, depending on the instrument. The design of the valves and their position on the tuba make the posture asymmetrical. During practicing, rehearsals, concerts and transport, monotonous body positions are common, and lifting the heavy tuba several times is required throughout the day. Therefore, tubists have a physical strain comparable to that of competitive athletes. So far, the musculoskeletal complaints of playing the violin have been best studied, but little research has been done on the tuba.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to use focus groups to assess the ergonomics of the tuba, musculoskeletal complaints of professional tubists, their preventive or rehabilitative coping strategies and the impact of the instrument on the musician.

Methods: Professional tubists (or comparable level) who practiced daily were invited to participate in focus groups. A phenomenological design with an idealistic perspective was used. A semi-structured interview guide consisted of key questions about problems and resources for their musical performance, ergonomics of the tuba, physical problems in relation to playing the tuba and coping strategies. During the discussion arguments were protocoled and visualized using knowledge mapping technics. In addition, demographics, hours of daily practice, and years of experience were assessed.

Results: Twelve professional tubists were included in 3 focus groups. From all of the transcripts 7 main categories and 7 subcategories could be extracted: Individual factors, performance as a goal (physical and emotional, mental performance), external factors (concert, social), instrument (influenceable factors, tuba construction, suggestions for improvement), physical aids, physical problems, coping strategies and other factors. All participants mentioned cervical spine, shoulder, lumbar spine, finger, masseter and mouth disorders. The importance of the chair and the tuba construction was the statement most often considered as particularly important, presented in the following statement: “It is uncomfortable when I have to adapt to the instrument and the instrument does not adapt to me.”

Conclusion(s): Both, the high impact of playing a tuba and the importance of finding solutions to adapt the tuba to the tubist could be shown. Many physical and emotional problems were found, which are generally due to high and long strains and unergonomic tuba design. Therefore, it should be considered to re-design the tubas. Based on these subjective findings, the posture of tubists and their ergonomically different instruments, should be biomechanically measured and validated.

Implications: Twenty-five body regions have been mentioned, which reflects the extremely high physical strain of playing tuba. Causes were found in always sitting in the same posture, the lack of balance of the tuba and the sheer size and ergonomically unsuitable construction of the instrument. As the strain of professional tuba play is comparable to top sports it is necessary to give the tubists recommendations regarding ergonomics and organization of the practice (breaks, break exercises, separate training). Further studies on the development of compensational exercise programs and tube ergonomics are needed.

Funding, acknowledgements: The project was funded by Bern University of Applied Sciences (No. 1964PT_HKB)

Keywords: instruments, professional competence, pain musculoskeletal

Topic: Occupational health & ergonomics

Did this work require ethics approval? No

Institution: Bern University of Applied Sciences

Committee: Ethics Committee of the Canton of Bern

Reason: The project is not covered by the Declaration of Helsinki and the Swiss Human Research Act