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Effects of music intervention on anxiety, depression, and quality of life of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

  • Review Article
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Abstract

Background

Music may be a safe and effective coping strategy for psychological management. The objectives of this review were to identify the effects of music interventions on anxiety, depression, and quality of life (QoL) among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Methods

Fourteen databases were searched from the inception date to December 2020 to identify eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Gray literature was also examined. The protocol of this systematic review was registered with PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42021223845). Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility, extracted data, and evaluated methodological quality. Meta-analysis was done. Subgroup analysis was conducted for intervention types, the person selecting music, music delivery method, timing, and session duration.

Results

Nine RCTs were identified, among which six were eligible for the meta-analysis. All studies were at a high risk of bias, and the overall quality of evidence was low to very low. The pooled results reveal that music intervention could reduce anxiety (SMD: − 0.29, 95% CI − 0.50 to − 0.08) and improve QoL (SMD: 0.42, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.82). However, it fails to affect depression (p = 0.79). The findings demonstrate no significant difference between patient-selected music and researcher-selected music, recorded music, and live music, while a length of 15–20 min/session and offering immediately before chemotherapy are more effective on anxiety than that of 30–45 min and delivering during chemotherapy.

Conclusions

Music intervention may be a beneficial tool for anxiety reduction and QoL among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. More high-quality RCTs are needed to ascertain the true impact of those outcomes.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

Code availability

None.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Chinese University of Hong Kong Library, Dr. K C Choi for his assistance in statistics, and Dr. Thapa Chura Bahadur for his support in language editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Esther Lee Building, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, NT, China

    Khanh T. Nguyen, Dorothy N. S. Chan, Mengyue Zhang & Carmen W. H. Chan

  2. Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Jinnan Xiao

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  1. Khanh T. Nguyen
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  2. Jinnan Xiao
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  3. Dorothy N. S. Chan
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  4. Mengyue Zhang
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Contributions

The idea for the review was from KTN, CWHC, and JX. The methodology was guided by CWHC, DNSC, and JX. The literature search and data analysis were performed by KTN, JX, and MZ. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KTN, and all authors commented and revised the original versions of the manuscripts. All authors read and approved the final manuscripts. The whole process of the review was supervised by CWHC.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dorothy N. S. Chan.

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Nguyen, K.T., Xiao, J., Chan, D.N.S. et al. Effects of music intervention on anxiety, depression, and quality of life of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Support Care Cancer 30, 5615–5626 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-06881-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-06881-2

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