Music in the workplace: A narrative literature review of intervention studies

Background Music is widely used in clinical and rehabilitative fields and recently also in the field of Occupational Medicine. This review aims at selecting the evidence-based studies regarding music interventions in workplaces. Methods In order to carry out a narrative literature review, two independent pairs of investigators searched in PubMed and PsycInfo databases to select Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) or Clinical Controlled Trials (CCTs) in English regarding music and music therapy interventions in workplaces; the trials were published in peer-reviewed journals from January 2000 to February 2017. Results Fourteen articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Among these, ten were RCTs and four CCTs. The vast majority of RCTs were conducted on students or medical personnel (n=8), while only a few RCTs (n=2) were carried out on air traffic controllers or sick leave workers. Firefighters, computer systems developers, nursing students and office workers were studied through a CCT study design (n=4). Conclusions Psychological factors, communication, rehabilitative outcomes and cognitive and work performances seem to be the principal areas of interest in the field of music and occupational medicine, with possible economic benefits. Future studies should adopt rigorous methodological criteria to carry out larger samples on a wide range of professional categories and music/music therapy interventions.