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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
Assessing the Effects of Music Listening on Psychobiological Stress in Daily Life
Published on: February 2, 2017
Randomized clinical trial examining the effect of music therapy in stress response to day surgery
S Leardi1, R Pietroletti, G Angeloni
1Geriatric Surgery, Department of Surgical Science, L'Aquila University, L'Aquila, Italy. serglear@tin.it
Background:
Music therapy could reduce stress and the stress response. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of music therapy in alleviating stress during day surgery.
Methods:
Sixty patients undergoing day surgery were randomized to one of three groups, each containing 20 patients. Before and during surgery, patients in group 1 listened to new age music and those in group 2 listened to a choice of music from one of four styles. Patients in group 3 (control group) heard the normal sounds of the operating theatre. Plasma levels of cortisol and subpopulations of lymphocytes were evaluated before, during and after operation.
Results:
Plasma cortisol levels decreased during operation in both groups of patients who listened to music, but increased in the control group. Postoperative cortisol levels were significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2 (mean(s.d.) 14.21(6.96) versus 8.63(2.72) ng/dl respectively; P < 0.050). Levels of natural killer lymphocytes decreased during surgery in groups 1 and 2, but increased in controls. Intraoperative levels of natural killer cells were significantly lower in group 1 than in group 3 (mean(s.d.) 212.2(89.3) versus 329.1(167.8) cells/microl; P < 0.050).
Conclusion:
Perioperative music therapy changed the neurohormonal and immune stress response to day surgery, especially when the type of music was selected by the patient.