Music Therapy in Palliative Care.

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care
• Music Therapy
• Psychological and Physiological Effects

Background:

• Music therapy has a 30-year history in palliative care for severely ill patients.
• A need exists for high-quality studies evaluating music therapy's psychological and physiological impacts.
• This study addresses the evidence gap in music therapy's effectiveness in palliative care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychological and physiological effects of music therapy in palliative care.
• To compare music therapy with a control intervention for relaxation, well-being, and pain.
• To assess secondary outcomes including heart rate variability and quality of life.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 84 hospitalized palliative care patients.
• Intervention group received live music-based relaxation; control group received verbal relaxation.
• Primary endpoints: self-rated relaxation, well-being, acute pain. Secondary outcomes: heart rate variability, quality of life.

Main Results:

• Music therapy significantly improved relaxation (p <0.001) and well-being (p = 0.01) compared to control.
• Heart rate variability, specifically high-frequency oscillations, increased significantly with music therapy (p = 0.01).
• Music therapy reduced fatigue (p = 0.03) but did not significantly differ in pain reduction (p = 0.53).

Conclusions:

• Music therapy is an effective intervention for promoting relaxation and well-being in terminally ill patients.
• The intervention demonstrated a low dropout rate, indicating good patient tolerance.
• Music therapy positively impacts psychological and physiological measures in palliative care settings.