P139 Are wind instrument musicians at a greater risk of developing a chest infection when compared to the general UK population

Introduction and objectives Bacteria and viruses cause chest infections (CI). Evidence suggests a presence of bacteria in wind instruments,1 however little is known if this impacts upon the risk of developing a CI. Furthermore, there is no research investigating wind musicians’ instrument hygiene or knowledge of standardised instrument cleaning guidelines. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of CI’s along with knowledge of its symptoms. Secondary aims were to explore the practice of instrument hygiene. Methods Members from a university orchestra were recruited to an undergraduate study. A bespoke questionnaire was created, and a pilot conducted to ensure applicability. 54 surveys were completed. Completed responses were analysed for descriptive and basic thematic analysis. Incidence of a CI (per 1000) was compared to that of a general UK population.2 Results 52 subjects had complete data. Mean±SD or percentage (%) Age 20±1years, Gender 54% female, Primary Instrument 44% flute & 31% saxophone, diagnosis of Asthma 23%. Of these, there was an incidence of 62 CI per 1,000 people per year (see Figure 1). 48% (n=25) cleaned their instruments every time after playing and 58% (n=30) have never been taught methods of instrument cleaning. 39% (n=20) identified that they may be at an increased risk of developing a CI and 2% (n=1) were able to correctly identify all symptoms stated within the questionnaire. Causation of CI’s were identified as bacterial or viral (35%, n=18; and 23%, n=12), respectively. Conclusion There was an increased incidence of CI when compared to the general UK population. The majority of subjects reported inadequate instrument hygiene along with a poor knowledge of CI symptoms. Standardised cleaning guidelines would therefore be beneficial. Further investigation on a larger scale would build on these initial findings. References Marshall & Levy. IJEHR 2011;21. McFarlane, et al. Thorax 2001;56.