Prevalence of Trigger Finger among Instrumental Musicians of Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

Trigger finger is also known as stenosing tenosynovitis. It is a troublesome anomaly that is experienced by most of the musicians and is characterized by catching, popping and locking of the affected finger/fingers. The causes of this anomaly are repetitive hand movements and holding heavy musical instruments. Objective: the basic aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of trigger finger in instrumental musicians. Methods: A cross sectional study design and convenient sampling technique was used to collect the data. A data of 320 musicians was collected through a self-administered questionnaire, who were lying in the inclusion criteria of the study. Results: In this study the results concluded that the frequency of trigger finger in instrumental musicians is 2.2%. Total 320 instrumental musicians participated in the study and out of it 292 (91.3%) were male and 28 (8.8%) were female. Minimum age was 20 and maximum age was 59 years. 283 (88.4%) were in the age range from 20-29, 25 (7.8%) participants were in the age range of 30-39 years, 10 (3.1%) participants were in the range of 40-49 years and 2 (0-6%) participants were in the range of 50-59 years. Conclusion: The present study concluded that frequency of trigger finger in musicians was very low as 2.2%. The study also determined that occurrence of trigger finger in musicians relies on repetitive hand movements and holding heavy musical instruments.