Music therapy for end-of-life care: An updated systematic review
McConnell T, Scott D, Porter S
Palliative medicine · 38 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Systematic review (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- Public Health Agency
- Grants
- Public Health Agency (STL/5091/14)
Based on 1 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2016-03-04 · Palliat Med · vol. 30 · issue 9 · pp. 877–883
- Publisher
- SAGE Publishing
- Cited
- 89 citations · more than 89% of similar papers · 2.7× the field average
- References
- 15 works
- Access
- Open access (repository copy)
- Research areas
- Music Therapy and Health · Pain Management and Placebo Effect · Art Therapy and Mental Health
- Keywords
- Medicine, CINAHL, Music therapy, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Palliative care, Meta-analysis, Randomized controlled trial, Quality of life (healthcare), Confidence interval, Physical therapy, Psychological intervention, Internal medicine, Psychiatry, Nursing
- MeSH
- humans, music therapy, palliative care, terminal care, quality of life, randomized controlled trials as topic
3 authors
From GB
- Tracey McConnell · correspondingQueen's University Belfast
- David A. ScottQueen's University Belfast
- Sam PorterQueen's University Belfast
Abstract
Background
Music therapy during palliative and end-of-life care is well established and positive benefits for patients have been reported.
Aim
Assess the effectiveness of music therapy versus standard care alone or standard care in combination with other therapies for improving psychological, physiological and social outcomes among adult patients in any palliative care setting.
Data sources
In order to update an existing Cochrane systematic review, we searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov register and Current Controlled Trials register to identify randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials published between 2009 and April 2015. Nine electronic music therapy journals were searched from 2009 until April 2015, along with reference lists and contact was made with key experts in music therapy. Only studies published in English were eligible for inclusion. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts, assessed relevant studies for eligibility, extracted data and judged risk of bias for included studies. Disagreements were resolved through discussion with a third reviewer. Data were synthesised in Revman using the random effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed using I(2).
Results
Three studies were included in the review. Findings suggest that music therapy may be effective for helping to reduce pain in palliative care patients (standard mean deviation = -0.42, 95% confidence interval = -0.68 to -0.17, p = 0.001).
Conclusion
Available evidence did not support the use of music therapy to improve overall quality of life in palliative care. While this review suggests that music therapy may be effective for reducing pain, this is based on studies with a high risk of bias. Further high-quality research is required.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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