20 minutes of Mozart mutes OA pain

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20 minutes of Mozart mutes OA pain

Lake Worth, FL - Elderly osteoarthritis (OA) patients who listened to music

for 20 minutes per day had significantly less pain by day 14 than similar

control subjects who sat quietly for 20 minutes without listening to music,

Prof Ruth McCaffrey (Florida Atlantic University College of Nursing, Lake

Worth) reports in the December 2003 issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing

[1].

" Over the 14-day period, pain levels continued to decrease in the group who

listened to music. "

" The statistics demonstrated a significant decrease in pain at each

data-collection point (day 1, day 7, and day 14) when compared with the

control group, who did not listen to the music. Over the 14-day period, pain

levels continued to decrease from day 1 through day 14 in the group who

listened to the music, " McCaffrey tells rheumawire.

Randomized, controlled study compared music vs quiet sitting

This study addressed 2 questions: Do community-dwelling elders with chronic

OA pain who listen to music for 14 days have less posttest pain than those

who do not listen to music? And do those who listen to music have less pain

across the time period of 14 days than those who do not listen to music?

The study enrolled a convenience sample of community-dwelling elders from 2

counties in Florida recruited via announcements and flyers at senior centers

and at 1 church. Inclusion criteria included age over 65 years,

physician-diagnosed OA, pain of at least level 3 on a rating scale of 1 to

10 and on at least 15 days of the month, and ability to independently

operate a tape player. The single exclusion criterion was use of narcotic

analgesics.

Thirty-three patients were randomized to each group, and McCaffrey says that

all patients completed the whole protocol. Patients had OA for an average of

15.09 years in the experimental group and 11.64 years in the control group.

Pain was measured using two sections in the Short Form McGill Pain

Questionnaire (SF-MPQ). The pain descriptor scale measured the qualitative

aspects of pain, and the visual analog scale (VAS) measured pain intensity.

Patients in the experimental group used a cassette tape player and a

cassette with 20 minutes of selections from Mozart's Andantino from Concerto

for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C, K 299; Overture from Le nozze di

Figaro, K 492; and the first movement of Sonata Symphonie no 40. The first

and third selections were at 60 beats per minute, and the middle selection

was at 72 beats per minute.

" My literature review indicated that music with between 60 and 80 beats per

minute induced relaxation and reduced anxiety. The light classical was

chosen as a type of music that most elders enjoy. I asked each participant

to indicate if they did not like the music, and all stated that the music

was very soothing and relaxing, " McCaffrey says.

Participants were asked to listen to the entire tape each day for 14 days

approximately 1 hour after completing their morning toilet. They were asked

to sit in the same comfortable chair each day and to avoid other

distractions such as reading, speaking on the telephone, listening to the

radio, or watching television. On days 1, 7, and 14 each participant

completed the SF-MPQ immediately before and after listening to the 20

minutes of music. The forms were given to the participants 1 day before the

assessment day, and subjects were asked to place the forms in the mail on

the day of completion. Each participant also kept a journal record of his or

her compliance with study protocols.

The control group was asked to sit in a quiet, comfortable place for 20

minutes each day approximately 1 hour after completing their morning toilet.

The participants were asked to sit relaxed in a comfortable chair and avoid

distractions such as the speaking on the telephone, listening to the radio,

or watching television during the 20-minute sitting period. Reading

newspapers, books, or magazines was permitted. The SF-MPQ was sent and

collected from the control group in the same manner as in the experimental

group.

Significantly less pain reported after listening to music

The control group reported stable levels of pain at baseline, day 7, and day

14, while the music intervention group reported significantly decreased pain

after the music listening period on each of the 3 days. Scores on the pain

descriptor scale decreased significantly in the experimental group compared

with the control group scores in the 3 data-collection time periods. Those

who listened to music had continued decrease in pain descriptor scores over

the 3 data points compared with the control group, whose pain remained the

same across the 14 days.

The experimental group also reported a continued decrease in VAS posttest

scores across the 3 data points, while the control group's scores remained

the same throughout the study (p=0.001).

" These findings support a difference in pain perception in elders with

osteoarthritis who listen to music. Participants in the experimental group

who listened to music had steadily decreasing pain scores on both the pain

descriptor scale and the VAS scale over the 14-day study period. Thus,

listening to 20 minutes of relaxing music daily resulted in less chronic OA

pain than sitting and resting without music at each of the 3 data-collection

points. The experimental group continued to have further decrease in pain

perception across all 14 days, while the control group remained at

relatively the same pain level, " McCaffrey reports.

" It would be interesting to see how long the effect lasts after the

participants stopped listening to the music and if selections need to be

changed to keep interest. I suspect some of the effect of the music came

through entrainmenta term used by music therapists to indicate the mind's

ability to embrace the music and allow it to reduce pain and other

symptoms, " McCaffrey says. " Prescribing a daily exercise of sitting quietly

and listening to relaxing music (especially if appropriate tapes were made

available through the doctor's office or through physical therapy) and

suggesting that the music might take the person away from the pain to a

place of peaceful and relaxing sensations would be very beneficial to

patients. "