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Comparison of Depressive Symptom Outcomes in Hospitalized Adult Cancer Patients Receiving Music Therapy or Massage Therapy
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Comparison of Depressive Symptom Outcomes in Hospitalized Adult Cancer Patients Receiving Music Therapy or Massage Therapy

Kevin T. Liou, Kathleen A. Lynch, Ogechi Nwodim, Karen Popkin, Jane S. Greene, Thomas M. Atkinson, Joke Bradt and Jun J. Mao
Journal of pain and symptom management, v 63(2), pp E155-E159
01 Feb 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.09.007
PMID: 34563626
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8816855View
Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified),  Open

Abstract

Clinical Neurology General & Internal Medicine Health Care Sciences & Services Life Sciences & Biomedicine Medicine, General & Internal Neurosciences & Neurology Science & Technology
Context. Depressive symptoms are prevalent and associated with greater healthcare utilization among hospitalized adults with cancer. Music therapy and massage therapy are available at many National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Cancer Centers and recommended by the American Society of Clinical Oncology for depressive symptoms, but a paucity of studies have compared these two therapies. Objectives. We conducted a retrospective, multi-method program evaluation of single, first-time music therapy and massage therapy sessions delivered to hospitalized adults with cancer. Methods. The study was conducted at an NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center between February 2018 and October 2019. We assessed depressive symptoms with the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) depression item. We also invited patients to provide free-text comments describing their treatment experience. Results. Among 1764 patients (61.2% women, 72.7% white), 350 received music therapy and 1414 received massage therapy; music therapy was associated with a 0.4 point greater reduction (95% 0.3 to 0.6, P< 0.001) in the ESAS depression score relative to massage therapy. When analyses were restricted to the 452 (25.6%) patients with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms (ESAS score >= 4), music therapy was associated with a 1.2 point greater reduction (95% CI 0.7 to 1.7, P < 0.001) relative to massage therapy, a clinically meaningful difference. In free-text comments, music therapy was described as energizing, uplifting, and evocative, whereas massage therapy was described as calming and relaxing. Conclusion. Among hospitalized adult cancer patients, both music therapy and massage therapy were associated with reduced depressive symptoms, but music therapy was associated with a greater reduction than massage therapy. J Pain Symptom Manage 2022;63:e155-e159. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

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11 citations in Web of Science
13 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Clinical Neurology
Health Care Sciences & Services
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