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Five-Element Music and VR for Pain and Psychological Distress in Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Trial
Jingjing Song1, Yang Zhao2, Zijia Zeng1
1Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China.
Context:
Pain and psychological distress are common and debilitating symptoms in patients with advanced cancer. Non-pharmacological interventions such as Five-Element Music therapy and virtual reality (VR) have shown promise in improving symptom management, but their combined effects remain unclear.
Objectives:
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of the combination of Five-Element Music and VR in improving pain, anxiety, depression, and sleep quality in cancer patients, as well as its impact on serum β-endorphin (β-EP) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels, providing an innovative non-pharmacological therapy for cancer patients.
Methods:
In this randomized controlled trial, 66 patients were allocated to an experimental group (standard care plus Five-Element Music and VR) or a control group (standard care only). The intervention comprised daily 12-minute sessions over seven consecutive days. Outcomes were analyzed using mixed-design analysis of variance (mixed ANOVA), with time (baseline vs. postintervention) as the within-subject factor and group allocation as the between-subject factor.
Results:
Significant time × group interaction effects were found for pain intensity (NRS), anxiety (SAS), depression (SDS), sleep quality (PSQI), and serum 5-HT. The experimental group showed significantly greater improvements over time compared to the control group in all primary and secondary outcomes (P < .05). Although serum β-EP levels increased in both groups over time (P < .001), no significant interaction effect was found. Partial eta squared values indicated moderate to large effect sizes for outcomes with significant interactions.
Conclusions:
The combination of Five-Element Music and VR significantly improved pain, anxiety, depression, and sleep quality in patients with advanced cancer, and modulated serum 5-HT levels. These findings support the feasibility and potential efficacy of using this non-pharmacological intervention to manage symptoms in cancer care.
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