20 minutes of Mozart mutes OA pain

[Guest guest]

Rheumawire

Jan 5, 2004

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].

" 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.

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.

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. "

Janis

Source

1. McCaffrey R, Freeman E. Effect of music on chronic osteoarthritis

pain in older people. J Adv Nurs 2003 Dec; 44(5):517-24.