Music therapy may improve anxiety, chest pain after MI
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Patients with hypertension and early postinfarction angina who underwent daily music therapy combined with the usual care reported less anxiety and chest pain than similar patients who received the usual care alone.
According to research presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session, patients with hypertension and postinfarction angina who listened to 30 minutes of sedative music daily for 7 years, in addition to usual care, reported lower anxiety and reported fewer angina symptoms such as pain sensation and pain distress compared with baseline (P = .0108). In contrast, there was no difference in those outcomes between baseline and 7 years for patients who received the usual care only.
Moreover, independent t tests demonstrated less posttest anxiety and pain sensation and distress among patients who received music therapy than in the usual care group (P = .0246).
Unrelieved anxiety can produce an increase in sympathetic nervous system activity, conferring increased cardiac workload, according to a press release.
Patients assigned to music therapy underwent testing to assess the musical genre their body was most likely to respond to positively, according to the release. Researchers observed participants’ bodies for involuntary responses to nine music samples based on dilation of the pupils. Researchers fine-tuned the daily listening selection by working with the patient to determine optimal tempo and tonality for positive response.
“There have been very few studies analyzing the effects of music on heart conditions,” Predrag Mitrovic, MD, PhD, professor of cardiology at the University of Belgrade School of Medicine, said in the release. “Based on our findings, we believe music therapy can help all patients after a heart attack, not only patients with early postinfarction angina. It’s also very easy and inexpensive to implement.”
According to the release, patients in the music therapy group were asked to listen to their designated musical selection for 30 minutes per day, ideally while resting with their eyes closed, and document their sessions in a log.
Usual care included prescribed treatments such as nitrates, aspirin, anticoagulants, beta-blockers, statins, calcium channel blockers, BP-lowering medications and the angina-reducing drug ranolazine.
According to the release, the researchers plan to further analyze these data to determine whether music therapy may show benefits for other types of patients, such as those with diabetes or advanced age. – by Scott Buzby
Reference:
Mitrovic P, et al. Abstract 1264-111. Presented at: American College of Cardiology Scientific Session; March 28-30, 2020 (virtual meeting).
Disclosure: Mitrovic reports no relevant financial disclosures.