Music has long been used as an intervention in the treatment of persons with cancer (see previous blog post). A new study looked specifically at the use of music to reduce pain in women who underwent a radical mastectomy. 

Li et al. (2011), used a Randomized Control Trial design to study 120 women ages 25 – 65 who were in need of a mastectomy. Of these patients, 60 were randomly selected for the music group and 60 for the control group. There was some participant attrition in the study; however, the researchers included all persons in the analysis.

Music consisted of a library of recorded music on a MP3 player. Available music was selected by a team that included a music therapist. Participants were allowed to select preferred music, which they listened to twice a day while in the hospital and for the period in which they received chemotherapy.

The results indicated that all women experienced significant reductions in pain over time. Women in the treatment group experienced a significantly greater reduction in pain as compared to the control group in posttest measures (the Chinese Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Visual Analogue Scale and the Present Pain Intensity scale).

These results provide evidence that passive preferred music listening can help reduce pain in women who have undergone a mastectomy. This intervention took relatively little time (one hour per day) and decreased pain for the length of the program. Overall, this study was clearly organized and explained in the paper.

Reference:

Li, X.M., Yan, H., Zhou, K.N., Dang, S.N., Wang, D.L., & Zhang, Y.P. (2011). Effects of music therapy on pain among female breast cancer patients after radical mastectomy: results from a randomized controlled trial. Breast Cancer Res Treat, 128(2), 411-9. PMID: 21537935