Table 1.
Individual studies investigating the analgesic effect of music-based interventions in either oncologic or palliative care settings
| Author, year, type of study | Study population | Music intervention | Control | N, music group | N, control group | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binns-Turner, 2008, RCTa [14] | Breast cancer patients undergoing mastectomy | MM: single session of prerecorded music through headphones (continuously from preoperative through postoperative period). Patients could select from classical, easy listening, inspirational, or new age | iPod and headphones but no music or sounds | 15 | 15 | Significant reduction in self-reported postop pain level by VAS (P = 0.007) |
| Danhauer et al., 2010, RCTa [15] | Hematologic malignancy patients undergoing lumbar puncture | MM: prerecorded music through headphones for duration of procedure. Patients could select from classical, harp, general instrumental, nature sounds, country, gospel, and jazz | Standard care | 29 | 30 | No significant reduction in self-reported intra-procedural pain level by VAS (P = 0.771) |
| Huang, 2006, RCTa [16] | Adult inpatients with various malignancies | MM: single 30-min session of prerecorded music through headphones. Patients could select from Taiwanese folk, Buddhist, harp, and piano recordings | Bed rest | 62 | 64 | Significant reduction in self-reported pain level by VAS (P < 0.001) |
| Nguyen et al., 2010, RCTa [17] | Pediatric leukemia patients undergoing lumbar puncture | MM: prerecorded music through headphones for duration of procedure. Patients could select from either traditional Vietnamese songs or children’s songs | iPod and headphones but no music or sounds | 20 | 20 | Significant reduction in self-reported intra-procedural pain level by VAS (P < 0.001) |
| Yonghui et al., 2009, RCTa [18] | Adult inpatients with various malignancies | MM: single 30-min session of unspecified music with unspecified guided imagery | Standard care | 65 | 71 | No significant reduction in self-reported pain detected by numeric rating scale (P > 0.05) |
| Gallagher, 2006, single-arm study | Adults with a terminal illnessb in an inpatient palliative care setting | MT: single session of varying length including live performance, listening to prerecorded music, and interactive techniques | None | 126 | 0 | Significant reduction in self-reported pain by VAS, from mean score of 2.7 before the session to mean score of 2.1 after the session (P < 0.001) |
MM music medicine, MT music therapy
aIncluded in 2011 Cochrane Review
bFor 90 % of the patients in this study, the terminal illness was cancer