Barriers to Implementation of Music Listening Interventions for Cancer-Related Phenomena: A Mapping Review

Despite music listening interventions (MLIs) being recommended in multiple clinical practice guidelines, implementation into oncology clinical practice sites has been slow. This mapping review aimed to critique and identify barriers to MLI clinical implementation, as well as offer practical solutions for both clinicians and researchers. A PRISMA-based mapping review of MLI literature was performed using CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases. Eligibility criteria included studies with MLIs as independent variables and cancer-related phenomena as outcome variables. Search was performed in October 2021, and no date limit was set. Thirty-eight studies met the eligibility criteria for inclusion. Several aspects of MLI studies suggested potential barrier status to clinician or patient adoption. These findings included choice of music, music delivery hardware, dose of MLI, and timing of MLI specific to outcomes of interest (e.g., pain, anxiety, mood). Few investigators addressed the concurrent effects of pharmaceuticals (e.g., analgesics, anxiolytics), and controlling for the effects of competing auditory stimuli was minimal. This review has identified several barriers that may obstruct clinician and patient adoption of MLIs, despite level of evidence for MLIs that presently exists in the literature. The review makes practical suggestions for clinicians, researchers, and patients to overcome the present barriers and ease MLIs into common practice in clinics and homes.