Music as intervention: a notable endeavor to improve patient outcomes

Music interventions have been used in medicine and nursing throughout history. Music therapy is an easy-to-administer, relatively inexpensive, noninvasive intervention that has been used to reduce heart rate, blood pressure, myocardial oxygen consumption, gastrointestinal function, anxiety, and pain. A review of theoretic and empirical base for the use of music therapy to improve patient outcomes in a variety of areas of clinical practice is presented. Implications for practice and future research are suggested.