Key result
Music therapy plus cardiac rehabilitation improves systolic blood pressure versus rehabilitation alone.
Why the study?
The effectiveness of music therapy in improving health-related outcomes in cardiac rehabilitation patients was tested due to limited evidence.
Does music therapy plus cardiac rehabilitation improve health-related outcomes in outpatient cardiac rehabilitation patients?
RCT (n=103)
randomly assigned
No
Does music therapy plus cardiac rehabilitation improve health-related outcomes in outpatient cardiac rehabilitation patients?
The addition of music therapy to standard cardiac rehabilitation may positively affect certain health-related outcomes, such as systolic blood pressure, though findings are limited by high attrition.
Hypothesis-generating for adjunctive music therapy in cardiac rehabilitation; randomized trials needed before practice change.
This study tested effectiveness of music therapy in improving health-related outcomes of cardiac rehabilitation patients. Using a randomized, controlled trial with follow-up, the study was conducted in an outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program in Ohio. Sixty-eight of 103 recruited patients, 30 to 80 years of age, completed the protocol through posttreatment. Physiological and psychological outcomes were measured. Cardiac rehabilitation patients were randomly assigned to cardiac rehabilitation only or to music therapy plus cardiac rehabilitation. Music therapy included musical experiences, counseling, and Music-Assisted Relaxation and Imagery. The null hypothesis of no differences in health-related outcomes between cardiac rehabilitation patients who experienced cardiac rehabilitation with and without music therapy was rejected due to changes in systolic blood pressure pre to post-treatment. Interpretation of changes at 4 months posttreatment in anxiety, general health, and social functioning are limited, due to small sample sizes at follow-up. Pre to post-music therapy session improvements were also reported. Findings suggest that some health-related outcomes may be affected positively by participation in music therapy in addition to cardiac rehabilitation. Attrition contributed to limitations in statistical power.
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Mandel et al. (2007) conducted an RCT in Cardiac rehabilitation (n=103). Music therapy plus cardiac rehabilitation vs. Cardiac rehabilitation only was evaluated on Health-related outcomes (physiological and psychological, including systolic blood pressure). Music therapy plus cardiac rehabilitation significantly improved systolic blood pressure from pre- to post-treatment compared to cardiac rehabilitation alone.
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