The effect of music therapy on chronic pain in patients with cancer

Abstract

 Abstract Background: Pain is considered as one of the complications in patients with cancer. Several methods are reported to have reduced the pain and among those, music therapy, as a noninvasive method, is sometimes used in cancer treatment to help reduce pain. Objective: To evaluate the effect of music therapy on scale of chronic pain in some patients with cancer. Methods: This semi-experimental study was performed in Tehran Central Hospital. A total number of 40 patients with cancer pain and age range of 18-70 years were studied. The degree of pain was measured with a scaled ruler (0-10). The data was analyzed using Willcoxon statistical tests. Findings: Two equal groups of patients (20 females) and (20 males) were selected. The scale of pain in stages of pre and post-implementation of music therapy showed significant differences on the basis of variables including age, sex, duration and the type of tissue involved (a=%5, Z=1/645). Conclusion: The data found in our study was indicative of a reduction in size of pain. Hence, music therapy is recommended as a noninvasive method to reduce pain.