Effect of music as nursing intervention for people diagnosed with fibromyalgia

Primary fibromyalgia, a poorly understood chronic pain syndrome, is a disorder of uncertain etiology. The ultimate goal of fibromyalgia treatment is to develop a multimodal therapy. In recent years, the use of music as an intervention for the pain management and other symptoms has increased. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of music on pain and depression for people diagnosed with fibromyalgia using Rogers' theory of the unitary human being as the theoretical framework. An experimental 4-week longitudinal trial design was undertaken. Sixty patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia were randomly assigned to either a music intervention group or a control group. Music interventions consisted of listening to music once a day for 4 consecutive weeks using two types of CDs. Pain was measured with the McGill Pain Questionnaire Long Form and depression with the Beck inventory; a 100-mm visual analog scale was used to measure pain and depression. The treatment group reported a significant reduction in pain and depression at week 4 compared with the control group. Members of the control group reported no differences in pain. The findings of this pilot study suggest the importance of music therapy as a nursing intervention and justify further investigation into music as a self-management intervention to reduce pain and depression.