Playing music during biopsy for breast cancer treatment may help reduce anxiety in patients, a new study has found.
Researchers from the University Hospitals Case Medical Centre in the US conducted a two-year study to learn the effect of live and recorded music on the anxiety of 207 women undergoing a biopsy for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
They randomised patients into a control group (no music), a live music group, or a recorded music group.
Due to limited time before surgery, the researchers presented patients in the experimental groups with a live song performed by a music therapist at bedside or a recorded song played through earphones.
When self-rating their anxiety using a visual scale ranging from "not at all anxious" to "highly anxious," participants in both live and recorded-music groups experienced a significant reduction in pre-operative anxiety of 42.5 per cent and 41.2 per cent respectively, compared to the control group.
"During our two-year trial, we gained information on potential benefits, challenges and methods of facilitating a surgical music therapy programme," said Jaclyn Bradley Palmer, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Centre in the US.
"In addition, we learned approaches to integrating the program with perioperative nursing staff members," Palmer said.
A music therapist may be highly beneficial in the surgical setting, and music therapy may be a means of enhancing the quality of patient care in collaboration with perioperative nurses, she said.
"As an interdisciplinary surgical staff member, the music therapist may help nurses achieve patient-related goals of anxiety reduction, pain management, effective education and satisfaction," said Palmer.
"By having professional music therapists facilitate surgical music therapy programmes, nursing workloads also may be reduced," she said.
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