CLEVELAND, Ohio – Music, from classical to hip-hop, can decrease pain, depression, and disability among osteoarthritis and other nonmalignant chronic pain patients, and should be considered as an adjunct to traditional pain treatments, according to new research in the Journal of Advanced Nursing.¹

Participants in the randomized, controlled trial of 60 African American and Caucasian patients who listened to self-selected music or researcher-provided music for 1 hour a day for 1 week felt more empowered and reported decreased levels of pain, depression, and disability when compared with controls who did not listen to music.

"Different music has different effects on different people, and different effects on the same person at different points in time," lead researcher Sandra L. Siedliecki, PhD, RN, CNS, a senior nurse researcher at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, told CIAOMed. "Some believe music works through distraction or relaxation, others that it is a form of energy that facilitates patterns of health, [but] the truth is that although we have several studies that find an effect for music on pain, we do not yet know how it works," she said, adding that the next step is to engage in basic research to better understand the psychoneuroimmune effects of music and how they can alter perceptions of pain.

Any music will do

Patients with back, neck, or joint pain for at least 6 months were assigned to a standard music group (n = 22), patterning (subject-preferred) music group (n = 18), or a control group (n = 20). Researchers measured pain with the McGill Pain Questionnaire short form. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression scale and disability was measured with the Pain Disability Index. Power was measured with the Power as Knowing Participation in Change Tool (version II).

Average pain ratings among participants who listened to music fell by about 20%. Pain among the control group increased by about 2% through the study period.

Depression scores fell about 25% among those in the self-selected group and 19% in the standard music group, compared with control subjects. Self-rated disability scores dropped by up to 18% in the standard group and by 9% among the patients in the patterning group. Control subjects experienced a 7% increase in disability. There were no statistically significant differences between the two music interventions, the study showed.

Music Rx

Dr. Siedliecki told CIAOMed that listening to music should be encouraged as part of treatment recommendations for people in pain. "If you are sad or lonely you should listen to music that cheers you up and makes you feel happy, she said. "If you are angry, tense, [or] stressed, you should listen to music that calms, soothes, or relaxes you, [and] if you are tired, fatigued, and can't seem to get going, listen to music that energizes you." She added that with the help of healthcare providers, "patients can be taught how to use music to alter their mood, promote relaxation, facilitate sleep, and distract themselves from pain."

Music as add-on therapy for pain

Study participants were also receiving one or more different medications to treat their pain. "Combining complementary and traditional therapies seems to have a better effect than either can have alone," Dr. Siedliecki said. "This synergistic effect enhances pain and symptom control without increasing negative side effects."

Reference

1. Siedliecki SL, Good M. Effect of music on power, pain, depression, and disability. J Adv Nurs. 2006;54:553-562.