The effects of music therapy interventions in patients suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A randomized cross-over pilot study

Abstract: Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by increasedresistance in the airways which in turn leads to dyspnea, especially during physical activity. Dyspneamay subsequently cause anxiety. Music has, according to previous studies, been seen to reduce theperception of dyspnea and anxiety during physical activity amongst patients suffering from COPD.The results are promising but however inconclusive. Aim: The primary aim was to evaluate the impact of music therapy (MT) on physical endurance, andon respiratory and psychological symptoms during physical activity in patients clinically diagnosedwith COPD. Secondly, to explore the meaning of music on life quality for these individuals. Methods: This study is a randomized cross-over pilot study of 10 patients with clinically diagnosedCOPD. Mixed methods, which is a combination of qualitative and quantitative design methods, wereutilized during data collection. Patient’s physical endurance was measured by a 6- minute walkingtest. Patients were randomly selected to listen to music throughout one of 2 walking tests. Basicphysiological parameters such as heart rate and oxygen saturation was measured before and after eachwalking test. In addition, questionnaires were used to measure perceived exertion, dyspnea andanxiety. Quantitative data was analyzed using paired Student´s T-test. Qualitative data was gainedthrough semi-structured interviews with patients concerning the influence of music. Results: 10 patients were recruited for the study. Preliminary results suggest that MT waseffective in reducing perceived anxiety and dyspnea during physical exercise amongst 70 % and40 % of the patients respectively. MT has however not demonstrated an effect on physicalendurance where results proved statistically insignificant. A common factor among the studyparticipants was that music is very important in improving their life quality. Conclusion: The study has indicated positive trends in MT being effective in reducing perceivedanxiety and dyspnea during physical exercise amongst some patients with COPD. Our findingsdo not support that music affects the tolerance for physical exercise. An important finding of thisstudy is that music plays an important role in the lives of the participants, and thus improve their lifequality. If future research confirms the effectiveness of music, the aspiration is for musicrehabilitation to be implemented in the COPD treatment program to further improve the life qualityof these patients, which is of great importance.