Effects of music and music therapy on mood in neurological patients

Table 2 Characteristics of the included studies concerning effects on stroke

Ref.	Design/(Jadad)	Subjects(n)	Diagnosis	Intervention	Professionals	Frequency	Outcomes measures	Results
Purdie et al[71]	RCT1 (0)	40	Stroke	Playing familiar or improvised music with the therapist by means of percussion instruments, synthesizers, or voice	Music therapist	Once a week for 12 sessions lasting 30-40 min each	FAST, HADS, MBRS, NRS	Positive trends in communication skills, behavior and psychological state in treatment group (not significant result)
Nayak et al[72]	RCT2 (0)	18	Stroke or TBI	Singing, playing instruments, composing, improvising, listening	Music therapist	2 or 3 sessions a week during the hospitalization up to a maximum of 10 sessions	Face Scale, VAS, SIP, questionnaire	Positive trends in mood and significant improvements in social interaction (P < 0.02) and involvement in therapy (P < 0.01) in experimental group
Jeong et al[73]	RCT (2)	33	Stroke	Rhythmic motor activity with music based on Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) theory (Neurologic Music Therapy)	Instructors	One weekly session of 2 h for 8 wk	ROM, POMS, SS-QOL, exit interview	Improvement in mood states and interpersonal relationship, flexibility, and range of joint motion (P < 0.05)
Särkämö et al[74]	RCT (3)	60	Stroke	Treatment group underwent preferred-music listening.A second group received self-selected audio book listening while a third control group had no listening material	Music therapists	Every day for 2 mo for 1 h (at minimum)	RBMT, WMS-R, BDAE, CERAD, Token test, BVRT, MBEA, FAB, POMS, SAQUOL-39	Improvements in depression (P = 0.024) and positive trends in confused mood with cognitive recovery (verbal memory and focused attention) in music listening group
Forsblom et al[75]	RCT(3)	39	Stroke	Preferred music listening. Control group underwent audio-book listening	Music therapist	Every day for 2 mo for 1 h (at minimum)	Analysis of patient’s interviews	Improved mood, better relaxation, increased motor activity in music listening group (P < 0.0001)
Kim et al[76]	CCT (0)	18	Stroke	Hello song and sharing of events in their lives (5 m), planned musical activities (30 m) and sharing feelings and goodbye song (5 m)	Not specified therapist	Twice a week for 4 wk for 40 min	BAI, BDI, questionnaire of satisfaction	Improvement in depression (P = 0.048) and positive trends for anxiety
Jun et al[77]	RCT (2)	40	Stroke	Stretching exercises while listening to music, singing and/or playing songs on percussion instruments, and final verbalization	Researchers and music therapist	Three times per week for 8 wk for 60 min	ROM, K-MBI, K-POMS-B, CES-D	Improvements in mood states (P = 0.04) and increase in the degree of shoulder (P = 0.03) and elbow (P = 0.04) joint flexion
Chen et al[78]	CCT (0)	19	Stroke	Self-selected individual listening in two different conditions: pleasant music and unpleasant music. A white noise condition acted as control	Not specified	1 session for each condition, separated by no more than 1 wk3	VAS, HR, GSR, SCT, LBT, PST, visual task	Improvement of mood (P = 0.03) and arousal (P < 0.001) under pleasant music condition
Van Vugt et al[79]	RCT4 (1)	28	Stroke	Play fingers exercises and children’s song on the piano	Music therapist	10 therapy sessions for 3/4 times a week for 30 min	9HPT, Finger tapping measurements, POMS	Reduction of depression (P = 0.002) and fatigue (P = 0.02) and improvement in the synchronization tapping (P < 0.05)

¹Subjects expressing a clear preference for treatment (25% of total) were allocated to music therapy while all others were randomly assigned to either treatment or control group;

²The goal of random assignment was not fully achieved because of the need to have 2-3 subject available at the same time to held group session in the treatment condition;

³Subjects heard 1 min of music or noise and after were given all assessments while they were continuously exposed to the sound up to the end of the evaluation;

⁴Patients were quasi-randomly assigned to groups making sure that the two groups were as close as possible in terms of numerosity and clinical characteristics of participants. 9HPT: Nine-Hole Pegboard Test; FAST: Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test; HADS: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; MBRS: Musical Behaviour Rating Scale; NRS: Neurobehavioural Rating Scale; VAS: Visual Analogue Scale; SIP: Sickness Impact Profile; ROM: Range of Motion; POMS: Profile of Mood State; SS-QOL: Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale; RBMT: Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test; WMS-R: Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised; BDAE: Boston diagnostic aphasia examination; CERAD: Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer Disease; BVRT: Benton Visual Retention Test; MBEA: Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia; FAB: Frontal Assessment Battery; POMS: Profile of Mood State; SAQUOL-39: Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale-39; BAI: Beck anxiety inventory; BDI: Beck Depression Inventory; ROM: Range of Motion; K-MBI: Korean-Modified Barthel Index; K-POMS-B: Korea-Modified Profile of Mood States-Brief; CES-D: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; HR: Heart Rate; GSR: Galvanic Skin Response; SCT: Star Cancellation Test; LBT: Line Bisection Test; PST: Picture Scanning Test; POMS: Profile of Mood State.