Effects of single session music therapy on hospitalized patients recovering from a bone marrow transplant: Two studies

Kind of blue: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of music interventions in cancer treatment

“…Numbers and duration of music interventions varied from 1 to 8 sessions and 15 to 60 minutes, respectively, and multiple sessions were conducted within a 3‐day to 15‐month schedule. Music intervention was applied during surgery (n = 5), chemotherapy (n = 7), radiotherapy (n = 4), other procedures (n = 5), and hospitalization (n = 4) …”

“…Recorded music offered a self‐reflecting inner musical experience, whereas live music added a shared musical moment together with the musician(s). Patients were active participating in the music intervention, in 10/25 studies; four recorded music studies and six live music studies . Out of these, one 3‐armed study compared active participation with passive listening versus control .…”

“…Fatigue (Figure S3I) was measured in 3 studies without showing an overall statistically significant effect (SMD −0.22 [95% CI, −1.08 to 0.63]). In these studies, patients were actively involved by singing along, attending relaxation techniques, or verbal interaction between songs . Nausea (Figure S3J) was measured as primary outcome in a 3‐armed study without showing statistically significant effect (MD 3.92 [95% CI, −2.22 to 10.07]).…”

“…As shown in Figure S2, 19/25 trials used the most preferable randomization procedure, and selective reporting seemed to be at low risk . However, only 6 trials reported concealed allocation in the outcome assessment and data analysis procedure, and 23/25 were rated as “high risk” in blinding of participants and personnel due to the characteristics of intervention . Blinding of outcome assessment was not adequately described in the majority of studies as well as a lack of outcome data, which were apparently incomplete in 8/25 studies …”

“…The passive‐listening trials were more transparent with regard to design, musical content, and most studies used recorded music. Further, no live music studies reported information on tempo, content, and the quality of the actual music played, eg, instruments in tune, musical communication between musicians, acoustics, or decibel . Several multiple‐session studies (6/12) failed to show a significant difference in primary outcome than single‐session studies (9/13).…”