Music brings change in brainwaves, which in turn creates alterations in bodily functions. This also produces changes in physiological activities controlled by autonomic nervous system, such as breathing and heart rate, which can also be altered by Song therapy.

Music, Sound and Song therapy and anxiety following surgery

It is well known that many patients become stressed and anxious prior to and after surgery. However, a report last year indicated that one means of helping reduce anxiety in patients is to incorporate music and songs in the Surgical Holding Area. 

In the study, one group of patients listened to music while a second group
did not. The researchers observed that patients who listened to selected songs while in the Surgical Holding Area had significantly less stress and anxiety than did those who did not listen to music. Both groups spent similar lengths of time in the Surgical Holding Area.

The researchers concluded that the “results strongly suggest that if selected songs were available to all patients in the Surgical Holding Area, most would select this option, and they would experience less anxiety.”

Song therapy and anxiety after heart surgery.

Researchers at the Bryan Memorial Hospital, Lincoln, USA recently investigated the influence of song therapy on mood and anxiety of patients undergoing heart surgery.

Ninety-six patients who underwent elective, heart bypass surgery at the cardiovascular intensive care and progressive care units of a midwestern community hospital participated in the study. The mean age of the patients was 67 years, with an age range of 37 to 84 years. 68% of the patients were men and 32% were women. 

Physiological data relating to anxiety and mood was obtained through blood pressure and heart rate as well as additional measures including the use of Spielberger's state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) and the patients’ own verbal ratings of their moods and anxiety levels was taken using a numeric rating scale (NRS). 

The patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) music and song therapy, (2) song-video therapy, or (3) scheduled rest group. All of the patients received their assigned 30-minute intervention at two episodes on the second and third days following their operations. The physiologic measures of blood pressure and heart rate were measured immediately before the intervention as well as at ten-minute intervals throughout the intervention. Mood and anxiety were evaluated by having the patients complete their NRS (i.e., 0 to 10) rating of mood and anxiety immediately before and after each session. Anxiety was also measured with the STAI. The study revealed that the patients’ mood ratings showed significant improvement in mood among those patients who were in the "music and song therapy" group after the second intervention, however, no significant differences were reported for anxiety ratings as measured by the NRS and state anxiety instruments. But, there were significant main effects over time for heart rate and systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the song therapy group, which indicated a generalized physiologic relaxation response. Reduced anxiety and improved mood were observed in all three groups, and the researchers noted that all of the interventions demonstrated a generalized relaxation.

Music, Sound and Song Therapy used to treat children with developmental delay

Music, sound and song therapy is a relatively recent development in complementary health care which is commonly used to help children suffering from a wide range of psychological and learning disorders. Although many pediatricians acknowledge that creating and listening to songs can be of considerable therapeutic value to children, particularly in encouraging communication skills, until very recently there had been no controlled studies to investigate the exact nature of any such benefits. 

Researchers at the Institute for Music Therapy in Germany recently conducted a pilot crossover study involving 12 children between 4 and 6.5 years of age with developmental ages of between 1 - 3.5 years to monitor the effects of music therapy on the children’s mental development. The children were randomly selected to one of two groups; the children in the first group received individual music therapy for a period of three months, and the children in the second group were, during that period, used as a control group. But, for the subsequent three months, the children in the second group received music therapy while the children in the first group were used as controls.

The results, after the first three months, revealed significant developmental improvements including better hearing and speech, improved eye-hand co-ordination, and improved communications skills in the children in the music and song therapy group which were not seen in the control group. Furthermore, when the groups were reversed for the following three months, the second group who were then receiving music and song therapy were seen to catch in the those areas of development.

The researchers concluded that music and song therapy seems to have an effect on personal relationship, emphasizing positive benefits of active listening and performing, and this in turn sets the context for developmental change. It was also suggested that the hand-eye coordination which was required by the children when playing music was a significant role in developmental changes. 

This was a relatively small scale study and, as the researchers themselves acknowledge ‘is best considered as a pointer in a general direction rather than as a conclusive statement.’ However, this research does break new ground in this field of complementary medicine and demonstrates that music and song therapy may offer a very valuable option in the treatment of developmental delay in children and will provide a platform for more detailed investigations of the potential roles of music and song therapy in childhood development.

The effects of music  and song therapy on depressed older patients

Music, sound and song therapy has been put forward as a cost-effective and accessible intervention for older adults experiencing symptoms of depression, distress, and anxiety. Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, USA monitored thirty older adults who had been diagnosed with major or minor depressive disorder. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three eight-week conditions: (1) a home-based program where participants learned music listening stress reduction techniques at weekly home visits by a music therapist; (2) a self-administered program where participants applied these same techniques with moderate therapist intervention involving a weekly telephone call; or (3) put on a waiting list and used as a control. 

The results showed that the participants in both music conditions performed significantly better than the controls on standardized tests of depression, distress, self-esteem, and mood. These improvements were clinically significant and, the researchers noted that these benefits were maintained over a nine-month follow-up period. 

The researchers concluded that there was great potential for music therapy as a beneficial intervention especially for homebound elderly people and others who have limited access to health care professionals.

A comparison of music / song therapy and jaw relaxation on postoperative pain.

An experimental study conducted at the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, compared the effects of jaw relaxation and music, individually and combined, on sensory and affective pain following surgery.

Eighty four patients who had undergone abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to four groups: relaxation, music, a combination of relaxation and music, and control.

Interventions were taught to the patients before their operations and used by them as soon as they were awake and able to move following surgery. Indicators of the sensory component of pain were sensation and the patients’ requirement for analgesic medications over a twenty four hour period.

While the researchers observed that none of the interventions were effective at reducing pain, during the first movement following surgery, after keeping the taped interventions for two postoperative days, 89% of the patients reported them helpful for alleviation of the sensation and distress of pain.

Music therapy and pain management 

Japanese researchers have assessed the potential role of music therapy in the field of pain management. The researchers decided to analyze the effects of music on pain associated with having to keep a compulsory posture. Classical music was chosen in this study. Five healthy adult females kept a supine position for two hours without music. Complaints and variations of heart beat and respiration were observed in each subject during the two hour experiment. After five days or more, these subjects had the same experience, but this time with music. Frequency and intensity of complaints were found to be significantly diminished by music. Although heart rate was not changed by music, frequency of irregular respiration was found to be significantly decreased by the music. There was therefore a positive correlation between frequency of irregular respiration and number of complaints in subjects kept without music. The researchers claimed that their study demonstrated that music is effective to relieve a pain associated with a compulsory posture and that music may play a significant role on pain management in palliative therapy. 

Music Therapy for post-operative anxiety

Music and Song Therapy are becoming an increasingly popular form of complementary medicine and has been shown to be particularly helpful to alleviate stress and anxiety in stressful environments. One recent study conducted at the Day Surgery Unit of St Mary’s Hospital, Mequon, Wisconsin, USA investigated the role that music and song therapy might play in a postoperative setting for ambulatory patients.

Forty two ambulatory surgery patients were assigned to either an experimental group to receive music therapy along with the standard preoperative instructions or a control group to receive the standard preoperative instruction alone. Heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rates were used as measurements of anxiety and physical stress.

The only difference in the two groups was that the patients in the experimental group were allowed to listen to the music of their choice prior to surgery. The results revealed that the patients in the experimental group showed significantly lower heart rates compared to the patients in the control group. The experimental group also showed greater improvements in blood pressure and respiration rate.

The researchers concluded that music and song therapy offers demonstrable benefits for ambulatory surgery patients and they recommend that the patients should be offered music and selected songs as an effective option to help alleviate postoperative anxiety.

Music and song therapy as stress management for pre-surgical stress.

The response of the adrenal cortex to the stress of receiving information about a surgery to be performed the following day was studied in thirty four patients by monitoring changes in their salivary cortisol levels. 

Eighteen of those patients were subjected to an individually selected one hour music program, applied immediately following receipt of the information, and the remaining sixteen patients formed a reference group. Another ten patients, not awaiting surgery, served as controls. Saliva was sampled before the stress and five more samples were collected at fifteen minute intervals. The stress produced a 50% rise in salivary cortisol within fifteen minutes. While the cortisol levels of those patients not exposed to music gradually decreased, after one hour they were still markedly higher than the initial level. However, those patients in the music group showed a marked reduction in salivary cortisol level and after one hour the relative decrease was similar to that observed in control (non-surgical) patients.

The results therefore show that music, sound and song therapy can have a significant beneficial effect on alleviating stress levels for patients who are given distressing information about imminent required surgery. The study suggests that, those in authority should consider introducing relaxing music into the cold, silent corridors and waiting rooms of hospitals and health clinics.