Effect of music therapy on stress in chemically dependent people: a quasi-experimental study.
Gunnar Glauco De Cunto Taets, Rafael Tavares Jomar, Angela Maria Mendes Abreu and 1 others
PMID 30698217WHAT IT FOUND
Salivary cortisol dropped after 60 minutes of a single 120-minute group music therapy session in 18 chemically dependent adults, but the 120-minute change was not confirmed.
Without a control group, this cannot show music therapy reduced stress.
Key findings
01Mean salivary cortisol was 0.30 ug/dL before the music therapy session and 0.23 ug/dL 60 minutes after it started, with a statistically significant reduction (p < 0.001).
02Mean salivary cortisol was 0.19 ug/dL 120 minutes after the session started, but the change was not statistically significant (p = 0.139).
03The study analysed 18 chemically dependent adults in a before/after design.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 18 participants were analysed, from a convenience sample at the study institution, so the result may not apply to other groups. The design was before/after, and the authors recommend future studies include a control group, so the cortisol change cannot be attributed to music therapy rather than time, setting, or concurrent psychiatric and psychological treatment. The intervention was a single 120-minute session, and the 120-minute cortisol change was not statistically significant (p = 0.139), so durability is unclear. The outcome was salivary cortisol, not a patient-centred outcome such as craving, abstinence, relapse, or quality of life.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that music therapy reduces stress or prevents relapse in chemically dependent people. The study was a before/after design with 18 participants, and the salivary cortisol change at 120 minutes was not statistically significant (p = 0.139).