Background: The psychosocial work environment among musicians can be demanding due to factors such as high job demands, low control, and lack of social support. At the same time, musical performance is physically demanding, and musculoskeletal pain is common. However, few studies have investigated health situation among jazz musicians. 

Research questions: How do Swedish big band musicians perceive the psychosocial work environment? What are the levels of stress symptoms? Are there any differences in these variables between those with or without playing related musculoskeletal pain? 

Methods: Three professional big bands in Sweden participated in this cross-sectional questionnaire study. Thirty-two of 35 musicians (mean age 45.4years (SD 10.1); 30 male) participated. A questionnaire including the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, additional questions about playing related musculoskeletal pain (PRMD), Demand-Control-Support Questionnaire, and The Copenhagen-Psychosocial-Questionnaire, was used. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare musicians with or without PRMD. P-value was set at <.05. 

Results: Level of demands at work (median: 11.5, IQR: 2) was lower than control (median: 18.0, IQR:3). Job strain (i.e. demands/control) had a median value of 0.65 (IQR: 0.14). Level of social support was 19.5 (IQR: 4). Emotional- (median: 7.0, IQR 2), cognitive- (median: 6.0, IQR: 3) and somatic- (median: 6.0, IQR: 3) stress symptoms were approximately at the same levels. Eight of 32 musicians had PRMD during the last 7 days. The groups did not differ significantly in any of the studied variables. 

Summary of content: The psychosocial work environment of these jazz musicians seems to be favorable since the perceived control is higher than the demands. Compared with professional symphony orchestra musicians, the stress symptoms are similar to (1), who used percent scores. No significant differences were foundation between musicians with or without PRMD. 

Significance: The psychosocial work environment may differ between different groups of musicians. More research is warranted to explore these potential differences, with a special focus on groups less investigated.