Individual music therapy for agitation in dementia: an exploratory randomized controlled trial
Ridder HM, Stige B, Qvale LG, Gold C
Aging & mental health · 90 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- University or hospital
- Aalborg Universitet
- Nonprofit
- GC Rieber Fondene
Based on 2 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2013-04-27 · Aging Ment Health · vol. 17 · issue 6 · pp. 667–678
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Cited
- 226 citations · more than 98% of similar papers · 6.9× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 72 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · CC-BY-NC-ND
- Research areas
- Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research · Intensive Care Unit Cognitive Disorders · Music Therapy and Health
- Keywords
- Music therapy, Dementia, Randomized controlled trial, Medicine, Quality of life (healthcare), Severe dementia, Psychomotor agitation, Confidence interval, Distress, Physical therapy, Psychiatry, Clinical psychology, Nursing, Internal medicine
- MeSH
- humans, dementia, psychomotor agitation, psychotropic drugs, treatment outcome, music therapy, cross-over studies, psychiatric status rating scales, quality of life, aged, aged, 80 and over, nursing homes, female, male
4 authors
From DK, NO
- Hanne Mette Ochsner RidderAalborg University
- Brynjulf StigeUni Research (Norway); University of Bergen
- Liv Gunnhild QvaleUni Research (Norway); University of Bergen
- Christian GoldUni Research (Norway); University of Bergen
Abstract
Objectives
Agitation in nursing home residents with dementia leads to increase in psychotropic medication, decrease in quality of life, and to patient distress and caregiver burden. Music therapy has previously been found effective in treatment of agitation in dementia care but studies have been methodologically insufficient. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of individual music therapy on agitation in persons with moderate/severe dementia living in nursing homes, and to explore its effect on psychotropic medication and quality of life.
Method
In a crossover trial, 42 participants with dementia were randomized to a sequence of six weeks of individual music therapy and six weeks of standard care. Outcome measures included agitation, quality of life and medication.
Results
Agitation disruptiveness increased during standard care and decreased during music therapy. The difference at -6.77 (95% CI (confidence interval): -12.71, -0.83) was significant (p = 0.027), with a medium effect size (0.50). The prescription of psychotropic medication increased significantly more often during standard care than during music therapy (p = 0.02).
Conclusion
This study shows that six weeks of music therapy reduces agitation disruptiveness and prevents medication increases in people with dementia. The positive trends in relation to agitation frequency and quality of life call for further research with a larger sample.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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