Efficacy of Music Therapy in Reducing Anxiety Among Postsurgical Cancer Patients: An Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

BACKGROUND Surgery is one of the key therapeutic modalities for cancers such as breast and colon cancer. Researchers claim that poorly managed anxiety slows recovery in postsurgical cancer patients and requires proactive management, including mind-body therapies like music therapy, which may further help reduce opioid consumption. In this study, we aimed to assess the efficacy of music therapy in reducing anxiety, depression, stress, and pain among postsurgical cancer patients over two weeks. METHODS This was a randomized, open-label parallel design trial with a sample size of 44 participants divided into two groups: an intervention group A (n = 22) that received music therapy along with the standard treatment regimen, and a control group B (n = 22) that only received the standard treatment regimen. We used curated music tracks. We assessed anxiety and other psychological symptoms (depression and stress) using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and analyzed pain symptoms using the visual analog scale (VAS) at baseline and after two weeks. RESULTS After the two-week period of music therapy as an adjuvant, we observed a significant reduction in anxiety scores (1.73; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.0817 to 3.37; p = 0.040; Cohen's d = 1.35) in the intervention group compared to the control group. For depression (1.09; 95% CI: -0.26 to 2.81; p = 0.207; Cohen's d = 1.04) and pain (0.273; 95% CI: -1.23 to 1.77; p = 0.716; Cohen's d = 0.42), scores in the intervention group also showed reductions compared to the control group, although these were statistically not significant. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest a significant improvement in anxiety scores with two weeks of adjuvant music therapy. Thus, music can be used as a non-invasive adjunctive therapeutic to manage anxiety symptoms in postoperative cancer patients. We recommend further studies on music therapy as an adjuvant treatment for patients with cancer undergoing palliative care.