The effects of music therapy on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Inconsistent findings concerning the effects of music therapy on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been reported.

Objective: To systematically evaluate the effects of music therapy on patients with COPD.

Methods: Database search was conducted in Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, CNKI, CBM, WanFang Data, and VIP databases, from database inception to June 2024. Two researchers independently reviewed and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies using the Version 2 of the Cochrane tool. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to assess the overall quality. Review Manager (v 5.4) software was used for the meta-analysis.

Results: Eleven studies with 947 patients were included. Standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were observed in favor of music therapy for quality of life (SMD = 0.92, 95% CI [0.39, 1.46]) and exercise endurance (SMD = 0.77, 95% CI [0.05, 1.49]). Meanwhile, the results of subgroup analyses indicated that passive music therapy had significant effects on quality of life (SMD = -0.83, 95% CI [-1.23, -0.44]), anxiety (SMD = -0.67, 95% CI [-1.11, -0.24]) and exercise endurance (SMD = 1.54, 95% CI [0.55, 2.54]). When intervention duration was more than 3 months, music therapy could significantly improve quality of life (SMD = -1.32, 95% CI [-2.17, -0.47]), reduce depression (SMD = -3.94, 95% CI [-5.20, -2.67]) and increase exercise endurance (SMD = 0.96, 95% CI [0.41, 1.51]).

Conclusion: Music therapy is effective for quality of life and exercise endurance of patients with COPD; however, its impact on dyspnea, anxiety, and depression is still uncertain. More high-quality randomized control trials are warranted to confirm these conclusions.