Active music listening in stroke patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A pilot study of the effects of active music listening on mood and anxiety in the stroke rehabilitation setting.
IRAS ID
275057
Contact name
Susan White
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff and Vale UHB
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 17 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Psychological sequelae such as anxiety and depression are common after stroke and may impact on participation in rehabilitation. Music has been used therapeutically across various clinical settings. The aim of this project is to determine whether active music listening may impact on mood and anxiety in stroke patients in the rehabilitation setting. This will be a prospective, within-subject repeated measures design study. There will be four sessions for each patient, lasting between 8 to 10 minutes each. Three of the sessions will involve listening to a pre-selected piece of music; two of these will be chosen by the investigators, and one chosen by the patient, if he/she wishes. The music has been chosen based on advice given by staff at the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University. One session would involve a ten-minute quiet period acting as a control.
The sessions will be at a time that suits the patient. Assessments will be completed prior to, and after each music session. These include the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and Visual Analogue Scale for mood (a series of 8 vertical scales for different aspects of mood, validated for use in stroke). It is estimated that these will take 15-20 minutes to complete for each session.
The patient will be asked how much they enjoyed each session, using a visual analogue scale.
We aim to recruit 20 patients over a five-week period.
Data will be analysed using paired tests to compare results before and after each session. The results will be written up for an undergraduate project, and presented at the Welsh Stroke Conference.Summary of Results
The main aim of this study was to determine whether actively listening to music has an immediate impact on the mood of stroke patients. A secondary aim was to assess the utility of visual analogue scales in this patient cohort.Results
9 patients were recruited; age range 57 to 90 years. One patient was unable to complete the VAMS. Most patients reported enjoyment of sessions, and none became visibly distressed during them. Score results were very mixed across all mood states; more changes were noted with the Mozart and Albioni compared to controls and own music selection. There was no impact on tiredness after sessions.Discussion
Recruitment was limited due to a COVID outbreak. The sessions were well-tolerated by patients. The VAMS measures mood states, which may be subject to rapid fluctuation over brief periods and some patients struggled to complete it. There is scope for further studies using alternative assessment scales. However our results do suggest active music listening has more impact emotionally than control sessions. Inter-subject variability in responses suggests that music sessions may need to be individually tailored to patients depending on baseline mood state.REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
22/WA/0036
Date of REC Opinion
22 Feb 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion