Effects of five-element music therapy on chemotherapy patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Sun T, Zhao R, Shan X, Zhu Y, Zhang Y, Zheng Y
Complementary therapies in medicine · 0 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Meta-analysis (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People's Republic of China
- Government
- National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Based on 2 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2026-08-04 · Complement Ther Med · vol. 101 · p. 103411
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Cited
- 0 citations · more than 60% of similar papers · 0.0× the field average
- References
- 34 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY-NC-ND
- Research areas
- Music Therapy and Health · Pain Management and Placebo Effect · Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies
- Keywords
- Randomized controlled trial, Music therapy, Chemotherapy, MEDLINE, Alternative medicine
- MeSH
- humans, neoplasms, antineoplastic agents, music therapy, depression, anxiety, quality of life, randomized controlled trials as topic, sleep quality
6 authors
From CN
- Tao SunFirst Affiliated Hospital of Henan University
- Ruping ZhaoFirst Affiliated Hospital of Henan University
- Xishen ShanFirst Affiliated Hospital of Henan University
- Yuanzhe ZhuFirst Affiliated Hospital of Henan University
- Yaling ZhangFirst Affiliated Hospital of Henan University
- Yuling Zheng · correspondingFirst Affiliated Hospital of Henan University
Abstract
Objective
This study aims to systematically evaluate the effects of Five-Element Music Therapy (FEMT) on emotional state, sleep quality, and quality of life in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Methods
We systematically searched 8 databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing FEMT with standard care or control music interventions. Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool 2 (ROB2) was used to assess the quality of included RCTs. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.4, and sensitivity analysis was conducted with Stata 18 software. GRADE system was used to assess evidence quality. Additionally, trial sequence analysis (TSA) was employed to evaluate the reliability of conclusions regarding intervention effects.
Results
A total of 20 RCTs (1588 patients) were included. Meta-analysis results showed that compared with control group, FEMT significantly reduced anxiety scores (Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS): MD = -7.16, 95% CI: -9.56 to -4.67, p +% and CD4+%) and inflammatory markers (increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), decreased nitric oxide (NO)). However, the methodological quality of included studies was generally low, with most outcomes graded as low or very low certainty evidence.
Conclusion
Current evidence suggests that FEMT may effectively alleviate anxiety and depression in chemotherapy patients, improve sleep and quality of life, and exert certain physiological regulatory effects. However, due to limitations in the number, characteristics and methodological quality of studies, the generalizability of this therapy outside of China remains unclear; further validation is needed through high-quality, large-scale, international, multicenter RCTs.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY-NC-ND).
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