The Effect of Music Therapy on Pain, Anxiety, Perceived Stress, and Biochemical Parameters in Hospitals Among Patients with Cancer

Background: Diagnosis of cancer and its long and hard treatment process induce great stress and anxiety in patients. Cancer patients may also suffer from severe pain due to their primary disease, metastases, or the received treatments. However, the patients’ chief physical complaint is the main aspect that physicians pay attention to, and the mental health of these patients is usually neglected. Objectives: This study aimed to predict the effect of music therapy (MT) on pain, perceived stress, anxiety, and biochemical parameters in patients with cancer. Methods: This semi-experimental study was conducted on cancer patients referring to the Oncology Clinic at Amir Hospital in Shiraz (affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences) from April to September 2016. A total number of sixty cancer patients were recruited using a random sampling method and divided into two groups of control and intervention. Patients in the intervention group listened to light music for at least 20 minutes for 8 weeks (two continuous sessions weekly). After the intervention group, a follow-up test and questionnaires were conducted on both groups. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 using the t-test, chi-square test, and paired t-test. Results: The results of this study showed that the control group had no significant difference regarding the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) (P-value = 0.797), cortisol (P-value = 0.841), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) (P-value = 0.001) variables before and after the study, but it had a significant increase in the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (P-value = 0.026). Our findings indicated a significant difference in the MPQ, BAI, and cortisol variables in the MT group (P-value ≤ 0.001). In general, the PSS showed no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusions: The results of the present study showed that MT for eight weeks, selected by patients from a list, could significantly reduce patients’ anxiety, pain, and perceived stress. Therefore, we recommend the inclusion of this intervention in the routine care of patients with cancer.