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Music therapy effectiveness by duration in patients with cancer: a meta-regression
  1. Ronald Chow1,2,
  2. Robert Bergner3 and
  3. Elizabeth Prsic2,4
  1. 1 Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
  2. 2 Yale New Haven Hospital, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
  3. 3 Volunteer Services, Yale New Haven Hospital, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
  4. 4 Department of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Elizabeth Prsic, Department of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 208028, USA; elizabeth.prsic{at}yale.edu

Abstract

Objectives Several reviews and meta-analyses have reported on music therapy for physical and emotional well-being among patients with cancer. However, the duration of music therapy offered may range from less than 1 hour to several hours. The aim of this study is to assess whether longer duration of music therapy is associated with different levels of improvement in physical and mental well-being.

Methods Ten studies were included in this paper, reporting on the endpoints of quality of life and pain. A meta-regression, using an inverse-variance model, was performed to assess the impact of total music therapy time. A sensitivity analysis was conducted for the outcome of pain, among low risk of bias trials.

Results Our meta-regression found a trend for positive association between greater total music therapy time and improved better pain control, but it was not statistically significant.

Conclusion There is a need for more high-quality studies examining music therapy for patients with cancer, with a focus on total music therapy time and patient-related outcomes including quality of life and pain.

  • cancer
  • pain
  • quality of life

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2021-003163

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @ElizabethPrsic

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.