The Influence of Music on Patient' Overall Experience, Perception and the Quality of Myocardial Perfusion Imaging...

To explore the impact of music on anxiety, procedure quality, and overall experience during MPI.

At Farshchian heart center in Hamadan, Iran, 120 patients undergoing SPECT MPI were randomly assigned to either a music intervention group, (calming classical music) or a control group (standard care). Metrics like anxiety levels, exercise performance parameters, non-cardiac dipyridamole side effects, imaging quality, and patient satisfaction were evaluated.

The study found that the music intervention group exhibited significantly improved exercise duration (12.15 ± 2.70 vs. 10.73 ± 2.48 min, P = 0.015) and greater distance covered (1010.22 ± 314.06 vs. 802.22 ± 270.49 m, P < 0.05). Autonomic nervous system markers, including the Chronotropic index (0.727 ± 0.2 vs. 0.602 ± 0.17, P = 0.003) and heart rate recovery index (31.92 ± 10.56 vs. 19.65 ± 5.39, P = 0.001), were better in the music group. Myocardial oxygen consumption, reflected by the double product, was higher (21558 ± 17557 vs. 15892 ± 4297, P = 0.048). The music group experienced fewer dipyridamole side effects, including headache, dizziness, chest pain, and flushing. Fewer repeated acquisitions and inadequate gating windows were shown with music. Post-procedure, the music group had reduced anxiety and depression scores (anxiety: 5.45 ± 3.36 to 5.7 ± 3.68; depression: 5.8 ± 3.41 to 4.02 ± 3.5), unlike the control group. Satisfaction was significantly higher with music.

Integrating music into MPI alleviates anxiety, improves exercise performance, mitigates non-cardiac dipyridamole side effects. Music greatly improves nuclear medicine practices and patient care quality.