Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Dr. Molenwaterplein 40, Rotterdam, 3015 GD, The Netherlands.
Department of Arts and Culture Studies, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 18;14(1):21798. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-72882-2.
Music is a promising (adjunctive) treatment for both acute and chronic pain, reducing the need for pharmacological analgesics and their side effects. Yet, little is known about the effect of different types of music. Hence, we investigated the efficacy of five music genres (Urban, Electronic, Classical, Rock and Pop) on pain tolerance. In this parallel randomized experimental study, we conducted a cold pressor test in healthy volunteers (n = 548). The primary outcome was pain tolerance, measured in seconds. No objective (tolerance time) or subjective (pain intensity and unpleasantness) differences were found among the five genres. Multinomial logistic regression showed that overall genre preference positively influenced pain tolerance. In contrast, the music genres that participants thought would help for pain relief did not. Our study was the first to investigate pain tolerance at genre level and in the context of genre preference without self-selecting music. In conclusion, this study provides evidence that listening to a favored music genre has a significant positive influence on pain tolerance, irrespective of the kind of genre. Our results emphasize the importance of individual music (genre) preference when looking at the analgesic benefits of music. This should be considered when implementing music in the clinical setting.
音乐是一种有前途的（adjunctive）治疗方法，可用于治疗急性和慢性疼痛，减少对药理学镇痛剂及其副作用的需求。然而，人们对不同类型的音乐的作用知之甚少。因此，我们研究了五种音乐类型（Urban、Electronic、Classical、Rock 和 Pop）对疼痛耐受度的影响。在这项平行随机实验研究中，我们在健康志愿者（n=548）中进行了冷加压试验。主要结局是疼痛耐受度，以秒为单位进行测量。五种类型之间在客观（耐受时间）或主观（疼痛强度和不适）方面没有差异。多项逻辑回归显示，整体类型偏好对疼痛耐受度有积极影响。相比之下，参与者认为有助于缓解疼痛的音乐类型并没有影响。我们的研究首次在没有自我选择音乐的情况下，在类型偏好的背景下，针对疼痛耐受度进行了类型水平的研究。总之，这项研究提供了证据，表明听喜欢的音乐类型对疼痛耐受度有显著的积极影响，而与音乐类型无关。我们的研究结果强调了在研究音乐的镇痛益处时考虑个体音乐（类型）偏好的重要性。在临床环境中实施音乐时应考虑这一点。
