The Effects of Music Therapy on Adult Patients Requiring Mechanical Ventilation in the ICU

Overview

While most studies in the medical literature that indicate "music" as an intervention may recognize its impact and capacity to decrease pain perception, anxiety, and/or its role in the regulation of cardiac and respiratory function in ICU patients, no identifiable studies have implemented entrained live music therapy protocols into clinical trials. Music therapy treatment is a non-pharmacological intervention that is individually tailored to the patient's needs and focuses on the assessment and intervention of a specific music application that is provided by a certified music therapist. Entrained music therapy focuses on a dynamic interaction between the patient and music therapist in which the music therapist attempts to promote relaxation and comfort through the patient's identified Song of Kin (SOK). This study measures the effects of live music therapy entrained to the vital signs of adult patients on duration of mechanical ventilation.

The study will include 178 adult patients on mechanical ventilation. These patients will be randomly assigned to the music therapy group or control group and matched for diagnosis, co-morbidities, age, and gender. The music therapy group will utilize a certified music therapist to provide live music based on the patient's cultural preferences and entrainment. The primary outcome is a reduction in mechanical ventilation hours of 35% compared to the control group. Secondary outcomes include: Amount of sedation, Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS), delirium and pain score, ICU and hospital length of stay. The researchers hypothesize that live entrained music therapy compared to control will result in a reduction in the time of extubation, amount of sedation administered, ICU and hospital length of stay.