Impact of a Music Intervention on Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Randomized Clinical Trial

摘要

Background: Music can influence human behavior and may be used as a complementary therapy in health care. Objectives:To assess the effect of music interventions on symptoms, adverse events, and quality of life (QoL) of breast cancer patientsundergoing chemotherapy (CT). Design: Nonblinded, randomized clinical trial. Women with breast cancer undergoingadjuvant CT were randomized into 2 groups—Group Music (GM) or Group Control (GC)—and followed during the first 3cycles of treatment. Measurements: Sociodemographic data, WHOQOL-BREF, BDI-II, BAI, and Chemotherapy ToxicityScale were assessed. Patients were evaluated after each session of the first 3 CT cycles. GM underwent a 30-minutemusical intervention before CT. There was no intervention in the GC. Continuous data were analyzed by Student’s t test,and χ2 test was used to compare qualitative variables. Results: Higher QoL scores on functional scales were observedfor the GM in comparison to the GC after the first and third sessions of CT. Depression (P .001) and anxiety scores(P .001) and vomiting (P .01) incidence were lower for the GM in the third session of CT. All the participants in theGM reported positive changes in life in the Subjective Impression of the Subject questionnaire, as well as improvementin fatigue and reduced stress levels. Conclusions: Improvements in QoL, anxiety, depression, and incidence of vomitingwere associated with the music intervention, suggesting a positive effect of the music intervention on adverse events ofcancer CT.