Ranjan Rajeev, Jaiswal Yash, Mallik Sulagna, Varghese Nidhi Joseph, Pandey Jagjit Kumar, Kumar Pankaj, Biswas Ratnadeep, Ojha Vishnu S
Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Patna, IND.
Surgical Oncology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, Patna, IND.
Cureus. 2025 May 3;17(5):e83392. doi: 10.7759/cureus.83392. eCollection 2025 May.
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.
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.
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.
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.
手术是乳腺癌和结肠癌等癌症的关键治疗方式之一。研究人员称，焦虑管理不善会延缓癌症术后患者的康复，需要积极管理，包括采用音乐疗法等身心疗法，这可能有助于进一步减少阿片类药物的使用。在本研究中，我们旨在评估音乐疗法在两周内减轻癌症术后患者焦虑、抑郁、压力和疼痛的疗效。
这是一项随机、开放标签平行设计试验，样本量为44名参与者，分为两组：干预组A（n = 22）接受音乐疗法及标准治疗方案，对照组B（n = 22）仅接受标准治疗方案。我们使用了精选的音乐曲目。在基线和两周后使用抑郁、焦虑和压力量表-21（DASS-21）评估焦虑及其他心理症状（抑郁和压力），并使用视觉模拟量表（VAS）分析疼痛症状。
在为期两周的音乐疗法辅助治疗后，我们观察到干预组的焦虑评分与对照组相比显著降低（1.73；95%置信区间（CI）：0.0817至3.37；p = 0.040；科恩d值 = 1.35）。干预组的抑郁评分（-1.09；95% CI：-0.26至2.81；p = 0.207；科恩d值 = 1.04）和疼痛评分（0.273；95% CI：-1.23至1.77；p = 0.716；科恩d值 = 0.42）与对照组相比也有所降低，尽管这些在统计学上不显著。
我们的研究结果表明，两周的辅助音乐疗法可显著改善焦虑评分。因此，音乐可作为一种非侵入性辅助疗法来管理癌症术后患者的焦虑症状。我们建议进一步研究音乐疗法作为接受姑息治疗的癌症患者的辅助治疗方法。
