The impact of music therapy on agitation in elderly patients with dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Hu J, Xu L
Archives of gerontology and geriatrics · 1 citation
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Meta-analysis (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2025-10-01 · Arch Gerontol Geriatr · vol. 140 · p. 106048
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Cited
- 5 citations · more than 79% of similar papers · 1.3× the field average
- References
- 51 works
- Access
- Paywalled
- Research areas
- Music Therapy and Health · Health and Well-being Studies · Sleep and related disorders
- Keywords
- Dementia, Music therapy, Nursing homes, MEDLINE, Health care, Health professionals, Duration (music)
- MeSH
- humans, dementia, psychomotor agitation, music therapy, aged
2 authors
From CN
- Jing Ying HuSichuan University; West China Hospital of Sichuan University
- Ling Xu · correspondingSichuan University; West China Hospital of Sichuan University
Abstract
Agitation impacts 50 - 80 % of elderly dementia patients, imposing burdens on caregivers and healthcare systems. Pharmacological treatments are limited, whereas non-pharmacological music therapy (MT) holds promise. This study sought to evaluate MT's efficacy in alleviating agitation. A thorough search across multiple databases was carried out, incorporating 14 studies (10 RCTs, 4 pre-post trials; n = 847). Meta-analysis demonstrated that MT significantly reduced agitation with a moderate effect size (d = 0.42). Subgroup analyses yielded consistent findings. Heterogeneity was low, and publication bias was negligible. MT effectively mitigated agitation in dementia patients despite heterogeneity in aspects like music duration and genre, underscoring its generalizability, particularly in resource-constrained areas and households lacking professional nursing support. It offers evidence for integrating MT into patient care. The review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD420251033860).
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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