Music Therapy May Improve Anxiety, Pain Before and After Surgery for NSCLC

A study presented at the IASLC 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer investigated the benefit of a personalized music therapy regimen to improve perioperative pain and anxiety levels in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

“Music therapy, with its advantages of high safety and absence of side effects, has gradually been accepted and applied in medical practice to alleviate patients’ negative emotions and feelings,” the investigators wrote. “However, there is a lack of in-depth empirical research on the specific impact of music therapy on perioperative anxiety in patients with NSCLC.”

To assess the benefit of this therapeutic option, the researchers conducted a single-center, open-label, phase 2 trial of 45 patients with stage I or II NSCLC. Thirty patients were randomized to receive a personalized music therapy regimen in addition to a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump.

The control group (n=15) received the PCA pump only. Music therapists selected the personalized music library, and patients underwent music therapy for 40-minute intervals before surgery, during surgery, and 3 times daily in the first 3 postoperative days. The primary endpoint was visual analog scale of anxiety (VAS-A), and the secondary endpoint was VAS for pain, analgesic dose, and frontal middle theta power (Fmθ).

Music therapy was associated with significantly lower levels of anxiety and pain at all points before and after surgery (P<.01). “We also observed a complete mediating role in the effect of music therapy on postoperative dyspnea [symptoms], with an effect size of 31.23%,” the investigators added.

The experimental group also demonstrated an increase in Fmθ power, which remained relatively stable for the control group (P<.05). There was no significant difference in the dose of analgesics utilized between groups.

“Personalized music therapy significantly [alleviates] preoperative and postoperative anxiety and improving postoperative respiratory difficulty symptoms,” the study authors concluded. “Combining the changes in anxiety levels and Fmθ power before and after the intervention, we speculate that the mechanism by which music therapy improves anxiety may be related to eliciting positive emotions and shifting attention.”

Reference

Yuan Y, Ku Y, Huang W, et al. The Effect of Personalized Music Therapy on Perioperative Pain and Anxiety in NSCLC Patients. Abstract OA07.03. Presented at the IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer; September 7-10, 2024; San Diego, California.