EPV807 - Assessing Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being in Tunisian Musicians

EPV807

Assessing Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being in Tunisian Musicians

A. Aloui ^1,*, I. Kacem ¹, N. Ganoun ¹, A. chouchane ¹, E. Toulgui ², M. Bouhoula ¹, M. Makhloufi ¹, H. Kalboussi ¹, O. El Maalel ¹, S. Chatti ¹

¹1    Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached University Hospital, ²Physical Medecine and Rehabilitation Department, Saloul University Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia

 

Introduction: Musicians are exposed to unique stressors related to artistic practice, performances, and professional demands. These pressures can impact their mental health and emotional well-being. Understanding musicians’ psychological status is essential for developing appropriate support strategies.

Objectives: To describe the mental health status of the musicians and its characteristics

 

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study among music academy students from the Music Institute of Sousse and Orchestra Musicians. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed either manually or via e-mail to collect information about the personal and occupational history of participants. The mentel health was assesed by the the mental component score (MCS-12) of the  the Short Form Survey SF-12.  

Results: Eighty-one questionnaires were included. The age of musicians ranged from 18 to 62 years (mean 25.19,±8.534).The sample consists of 45 men (56.2%) and 35 women (43.8%) with a sex ratio of 1.28. Among 81 musicians, 35(44%) were orchestra musicians, 21(26%) were academy students from different classes starting 1st year to 2nd master degree class and 25(31%) had both statuses. Most of the participants were string musicians 62 (76.6%) followed by 7wind/brass musicians (8.6%) 7 percussion musicians (8.6%) and 5 keyboard musicians (6.2%).The mean MCS12 in our study population was 45.22 (10.23SD) with scores ranging from14.59 to 58.74. Results have revealed that 23 musicians (28.39%) had an MCS-12 lower than the reference value. Male musicians had a better MCS-12 mean compared to female musicians with a slight difference between academy students and orchestra musicians . Keyboard musicians had the lowest MCS-12 mean (39.97, 14.20 SD) which is a score underneath the reference value indicating in this case a low mental health functioning. Percussionists had the highest MCS-12 mean indicating better health functioning in comparison with other instruments.

Conclusions: Mental health issues among musicians represent a significant concern, reflecting both occupational stressors and creative demands. Targeted preventive strategies and supportive interventions are essential to promote psychological well-being in this population.

 

 

Disclosure of Interest: None Declared