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 In the study, breast cancer patients assigned to 30 minutes of music
listening five times a week had "noticeably" reduced side effects of
cancer and its treatment over 24 weeks, researchers report in the
European Journal of Cancer Care.
The patients said the music helped their physical and psychological
wellbeing because it distanced them from negative thoughts about
cancer.
"Music therapy is convenient, does not involve invasive procedures,
and can easily be used by people in the comfort of their homes,"
said senior study author Kuei-Ru Chou of Taipei Medical University.
"Home-based music interventions can also be used with no cost," Chou
told Reuters Health by email. "Healthcare services have become
expensive in the present time."
The researchers recruited 60 breast cancer patients and randomly
assigned half of them to a group that would listen to music at home
on an MP3 player provided by the study team with a selection of
classical, parlor, popular, Taiwanese and religious music to choose
from. The other patients were also given a player and the same
instructions about how often to listen, but their selections were
various types of ambient music, mainly consisting of environmental
sounds, which research has shown does little to reduce pain or
symptoms, the study team notes.
Before the women had surgery, and after six, 12 and 24 weeks of
music listening, all patients rated the severity of 25 physical
symptoms on a five-point scale, as well as rating five categories of
fatigue on a separate five-point scale, and the level of pain they
felt on a 100-point scale.
The average symptom severity scores of the music therapy group had
dropped by five points at the six-week assessment, seven points at
12 weeks and nearly nine points after 24 weeks. Pain scores and
overall fatigue scores fell at each assessment as well.
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For those listening to music, physical and mental fatigue had also
dropped at six weeks but not later.
In contrast, pain and symptom severity scores in the control group
increased and remained higher than at the start of the trial.
Based on the results, music therapy may not relieve long-term
physical and mental fatigue, the study authors caution. And future
studies should use objective measures of pain and fatigue, in
addition to the subjective measures used in this study, Chou said.
The researchers are also interested in learning how and why music
therapy reduces symptoms and pain. Because listening to music
promotes endorphins, dopamine and serotonin in the brain, the
chemicals may spark joy and positive emotions that distract patients
from the negative emotions, the study authors speculate.
Music could affect functions of the cardiovascular, respiratory,
muscular, skeletal, nervous and metabolic systems as well, relieving
muscle tension and pain, they add.
"From the neurophysiological point of view," said Tereza Alcantara-Silva
of the Federal University of Goias in Brazil, music-evoked emotions
can modulate activity in a variety of brain areas.
"Music plays a major role in self-regulation of emotional contexts,"
said Alcantara-Silva, who wasn't involved in the study, by email.
"Music therapy can bring several benefits to cancer patients,
helping them to find ways to deal with stress, fear, and
loneliness."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2Idu5cY European Journal of Cancer Care,
online June 5, 2019.
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