Table.
Music Therapy Trials in Oncology: Setting, Interventions, and Outcomes
| Authors (reference no.) | Year | N | Patients | Music Therapy | Cancer Type | Study Typea | Outcomes |
| Smith, et al (13) | 2001 | 42 | Male patients after radiotherapy from the Veterans Affairs hospital Tampa, Florida, US | Receptive MT (music listening) during radiotherapy | Abdominal | 2-armed RCT: MT vs standard treatment | No significant differences between MT and standard treatment in anxiety scores |
| Walden (14) | 2001 | 10 | Patients from the Metropolitan Cancer Centers in Stockton, California, US | 2 different kinds of MT interventions taken from “music making” and “music responding” | Various | Pre-post observational study | Significant improvements in mood |
| Barrera, et al (15) | 2002 | 65 | Children between 1 and 17 y (MW: 7 ± 4, 8 y) | Interactive MT | Various | Pre-post observational study | Significant improvements in mood |
| Hanser (16) | 2006 | 70 | Female patients | 3 sessions of individual MT | Metastatic breast cancer | 2-armed RCT: MT vs standard treatment | Significant immediate effects in relaxation, comfort, and joy; no between-group differences |
| Kemper, et al (17) | 2008 | 47 | Pediatric outpatients from Wake Forest Hospital, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, US | Music listening | Leukemia | Observational study with 2 interventions: T1: relaxation, T2: music listening | Significant improvements in relaxation and heart rate variability |
| Robb, et al (18) | 2008 | 83 | Patients from Indiana University Hospital, Indianapolis, US | AME | Various | 3-armed RCT: AME vs music listening vs audio books | AME participants showed significant improvements in coping |
| Rose, et al (19) | 2008 | 105 | Patients from the Hospital for Tumor-biology, Freiburg, Germany | 4 sessions of sound meditations within 3 wk | Various (50.5% breast cancer) | Pre-post observational study | Significant improvements in inner balance, nervousness, and exhaustion |
| Bufalini (20) | 2009 | 39 | Pediatric patients from the Ospedale Pediatrico Anna Meyer di Firenze, Italy | Interactive MT during lumbar injection and bone marrow aspiration and biopsy | Various | 2-armed RCT: MT vs standard treatment | Significant improvements in anxiety scores |
| Nguyen, et al (21) | 2010 | 40 | Patients from the National Hospital of Paediatrics, Hanoi, Vietnam | Music medicine | Leukemia with lumbar puncture | 2-armed RCT: MT vs standard treatment | Significant differences between MT and standard therapy in anxiety and pain scores |
| Shabanloei, et al (22) | 2010 | 100 | Patients of the Tabriz Hematology and Oncology Center, Iran | Music listening during bone marrow aspiration and biopsy | Various | 2-armed RCT: MT vs standard treatment | Patients listening to music had lower anxiety and pain scores |
| Li, et al (23) | 2011 | 120 | Patients from the Surgery Department of Xi'an Jiaotong Hospital, China | Not specified | Breast cancer with mastectomy | 2-armed RCT: MT vs standard treatment | Significant short- and long-term effects in various pain scales |
| Lin, et al (24) | 2011 | 98 | Cancer outpatients from an academic hospital in Taiwan | 1 h of individual MT | Various | 3-armed RCT: MT vs relaxation vs standard treatment | Positive effects of MT on anxiety after chemotherapy |
Abbreviations: AME, active music engagement; MT, music therapy; RCT, randomized controlled trial; US, United States.
a
All groups receive standard cancer care and additional MT was applied for the intervention group.