Music could be used as a non-invasive therapeutic tool to relieve the anxiety of patient. But less study is designed to compare the role of music therapy on the level of anxiety in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of music relaxation therapy in reducing anxiety in hospitalized psychiatric patients.
Methods:
We used a single-group experimental repeated measures design and allocated the 22 enrolled participants. Based on the severity of the patient's anxiety divided into mild, moderate and severe three levels, who received 20 minutes of music relaxation therapy for 10 consecutive days. Soft music was played to patients using CD player and headphones. We administered the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and measured skin temperature, alpha brain waves and beta brain waves to determine anxiety level before, during, and after intervention.
Results:
The results showed that the anxiety scores among the three levels had significant difference after music relaxation therapy (p = 0.0339). Each level of anxiety compared pretest and posttest anxiety scores have decreased, ranging from 3-12, also reached significant difference (p = 0.0277). After the music relaxation therapy, 50% of patients with mild anxiety had returned to normal, and 37.5% of patients with moderate anxiety had returned to normal. In the severe anxiety group, 16.7% of patients had returned to normal, 16.7% had returned to mildly anxiety and 33.6% had recovered to moderate anxiety. Three levels of anxiety demonstrated a significant difference in the pre-test and post-test differences in the alpha EEG percentage (p = 0.0435) and the beta EEG percentage (p = 0.0147).
Conclusion:
Our results showed that music relaxation therapy can relieve on different levels of anxiety. During the listen to music, the patient’s alpha EEG percentage increased, that confirming the patient in a relaxed state. Therefore music relaxation therapy can be recommended to relax relieve anxiety symptoms as non-drug effective interventions.