Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Application-Supported Preventive Advice on Student Musicians' Health

NCT ID: NCT07033793

Last Updated: 2025-07-04

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 45 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-09-01
• Study Completion Date: 2026-03-31

Brief Summary

Student musicians are particularly vulnerable to both physical and psychological health issues, with studies showing that 38% report pain from musical practice and over 50% experience high stress. Despite these risks, health resources tailored specifically to student musicians remain limited. This study aims to address this gap by testing a preventive, digital intervention to improve the well-being of this population. The intervention, delivered via a smartphone or tablet app, is designed to accommodate the unique demands of student musicians, such as frequent travel and time constraints. It includes health education, self-assessment tools, preventive health behavior advice, and interactive games designed to promote healthier work habits, daily routines, and overall health knowledge.

Detailed Description

Student musicians are significantly affected by physical and psychological health issues. Previous studies highlighted that 38% of student musicians experience pain related to their musical practice over a 12-month period, and more than 50% report high levels of stress (general and specific to musical performance).

Despite these concerning trends, tailored health resources and advice specific to student musicians remain rare. Improved work habits and daily health behaviors are crucial for primary prevention and could enhance both learning conditions and long-term health despite the high level of musical practice. Digital, evidence-based interventions, tailored to the specific needs of musicians, could offer a practical solution given their unique constraints, which include frequent travel, limited resources, and demanding schedules.

This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a smartphone/tablet-based preventive intervention for student musicians. The intervention is designed to improve their physical, psychological, and social well-being, as well as health knowledge. Given the health risks associated with pre-professional and professional music practice, these issues impact not only the well-being of student musicians but also their self-fulfillment and learning capacity. These issues justify the need for health support in music studies. It is currently recommended to develop health promotion approaches that integrate knowledge about health, self-assessment of risk factors, and the adoption of good daily habits. These approaches are most effective when tailored to the specific needs of musicians.

This study will assess a preventive, digital intervention for student musicians over a 12-week period. The three groups involved are: GAppE (stand-alone app intervention plus 5 educational group sessions), GApp (app intervention used independently), and GC (no intervention).

Health knowledge, physical, psychological, and social well-being, as well as daily life and work habits, will be assessed at three time points: 1) before the intervention, 2) 6 months after the start of the intervention, and 3) 12 weeks after the start of the intervention in all 3 groups.

Moreover, after 6 and 12 weeks, participants in the GAppE and GApp groups will also evaluate their satisfaction with the app-based preventive intervention using standardized questionnaires.

The hypothesis is that the intervention will be feasible, useful, and appreciated, and that it will have beneficial health outcomes, particularly when combined with educational group sessions.

Conditions

Healthy Adults

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

GC

Control group with no intervention.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

GApp

Preventive advice with digital support

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

GApp

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants receive only digital support with health information, self-assessment tests, preventive advices and games. No educational sessions are provided, and the focus is solely on digital preventive advice used autonomously.

GappE

Preventive advice with digital support + 5 educational sessions

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

GappE

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants receive preventive interventon delivered via digital support (smartphone app) including health information, self-assessment tests, preventive advices and games).

In addition to the App used autonomously, they will participate in 5 group educational sessions proposed by a physiotherapist (once every two weeks).

Interventions

GApp

Participants receive only digital support with health information, self-assessment tests, preventive advices and games. No educational sessions are provided, and the focus is solely on digital preventive advice used autonomously.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

GappE

Participants receive preventive interventon delivered via digital support (smartphone app) including health information, self-assessment tests, preventive advices and games).

In addition to the App used autonomously, they will participate in 5 group educational sessions proposed by a physiotherapist (once every two weeks).

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age: Over 18 years old
• Enrollment at the Geneva University of Music (HEM) as a Bachelor (1st, 2nd, or 3rd year) or Master (1st or 2nd year) student.
• Primary discipline: Must be in musical performance (instrumental or vocal).
• Physical ability to play an instrument or sing (no physical disabilities that prevent participation in musical practice).
• Must be able to follow academic activities as planned.

Exclusion Criteria

• Unable to play their instrument or participate in singing.
• Underwent surgery in the past 12 months that affects their ability to practice music (e.g., musculoskeletal surgeries).
• Suffering from pain or medical conditions that are not related to musical practice (e.g., non-musical injuries or pathologies).
• Unable to follow the planned academic schedule (e.g., missing classes or major academic constraints that would prevent full participation in the study).

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Geneva University of Music

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Anne-Violette Bruyneel

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Anne-Violette Bruyneel

Professor

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Geneva School of Health (HEdS-Geneva)

Geneva, , Switzerland

Countries

Switzerland

Central Contacts

Anne-Violette Bruyneel, Associate Professor

Role: CONTACT

Anne-violette.bruyneel@hesge.ch

+41 22 558 51 47

Clara James, Full Professor

Role: CONTACT

Facility Contacts

Anne-Violette Bruyneel

Role: primary

Anne-violette.bruyneel@hesge.ch

+41 22 558 51 47

References

Bruyneel AV, Stern F, Schmid A, Rieben N, James CE. Network analyses of physical and psychological factors of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders in student musicians: a cross-sectional study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2024 Nov 30;25(1):979. doi: 10.1186/s12891-024-08103-8.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 39616356 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

2025-00300

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

HarMoNie-129810

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id