Feasibility of Music Therapy in CSMTS

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Feasibility of music therapy, neural processing and reduction of craving in Community Substance Misuse Treatment Services (CSMTS)

  • IRAS ID

    303057

  • Contact name

    Jorg C Fachner

  • Contact email

    jorg.fachner@aru.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Anglia Ruskin University

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    NCT05180617

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 3 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Music Therapy (MT) has been shown to improve depressive, anxiety and craving symptoms, as well as negative emotions in people with substance use disorder (SUD). However, studies investigating those effects in a specific cohort of out-patients on prescription medicine from Community Substance Misuse Treatment Services (CSMTS) are lacking. The primary aim of this three-arm randomized non-blind controlled trial aims to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of MT delivered from a qualified music therapist in CSMTS.
    Along with CSMTS standard treatment (ST), 5 participants will receive 6 weekly individual music therapy sessions (IMT), 5 participants will receive 6 weekly group music therapy (GMT) sessions and 5 participants will act as a control group (CG) receiving standard treatment only (ST). The CG will have the opportunity to receive MT as well, after the end of the study.
    Focus groups and satisfaction surveys following the final session aim to collect feedback and evaluation on feasibility and acceptability of the intervention from participants and staff. Moreover, engagement with treatment, and completion rates will be measured after the end of the MT sessions.
    Furthermore, we will investigate MT’s effect on craving, substance use, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and inhibitory control in people with SUD. Changes in the brain activity related to the above mentioned symptoms will be investigated as well as how music and emotion are processed in the brain during MT. We will combine neuroscience non-invasive methods, such as the Electroencephalography (a non-invasive technique to measure brain electrical activity), with qualitative and self-report data within a MT setting. We will collect subjective and objective baseline measurements and compare them against post-treatment measurements.
    The study will take place in a WDP provided community-based integrated adult substance misuse service in London. Participants will be recruited from service users receiving treatment at this service.

  • REC name

    North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    22/NE/0050

  • Date of REC Opinion

    28 Jun 2022

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion