Music Listening in Radiotherapy Treatment (MuLi_RT)

January 4, 2022 updated by: Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri SpA

Music Listening to Reduce Anxiety and Stress in Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy

Music and music therapy are now widely used as non-pharmacological intervention techniques in different clinical and therapeutic settings.

The present study includes the use of musical listening related to the concept of "Music Medicine", a possibility of modifying the psycho-physiological state of the patient through the targeted use of musical pieces respondent to specific parameters and musical structures able to interact in particular conditions with the psycho-somatic imbalances to which the person is subjected.

In particular, in this study, in addition to proposing a traditional listening method, the music used in one of the research arms will be composed of an artificial intelligence called "Melomics-Health".

The objective of the study is to verify whether the perception of anxiety and stress in cancer patients undergoing Radiotherapy is influenced by music listening ("Melomics-Health" music vs listening to favorite music). Sixty breast cancer surgical patients, candidates for post-operative radiotherapy with a healing purpose. Patients who will undergo Radiation therapy for the first time in their lives will be included.

Patients will be recruited in this randomized controlled study with a sequential enrollment and, in the case of inclusion, will be assigned to one of the following 3 groups: a) "Melomics-Health" music listening group (n = 20); b) favorite music listening group (n = 20); c) no-music control group (n = 20). Music groups will undergo 15 minutes music listening immediately before the simulation and the first 5 sessions of radiotherapy.

Patients will be subjected to a psychological assessment focused on anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and distress (Psychological Distress Inventory) dimensions at the baseline (T0), at the end of the treatments (T1) and at the Follow-up (T2, 2 weeks after the fifth session of Radiotherapy). A specific questionnaire will also be submitted to the patients included in music groups. This questionnaire will allow the music therapist to acquire specific qualitative information regarding the different types of music listening and the responses of the subjects to them.

Descriptive statistics will be produced for all the variables detected.The effectiveness of musical listening in relation to the psychological aspects considered will be evaluated by applying analysis of variance models.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Introduction: Music and music therapy are now widely used as non-pharmacological intervention techniques in different clinical and therapeutic settings.

Scientific literature includes a large number of studies structured according to scientific criteria and its presence is documented by the existence of numerous systematic reviews about this topic (including Cochrane Reviews). Some of these reviews, together with single studies, concern to the use of music in the hospital setting in different areas as: the pre-surgical and surgical phases, specific oncology interventions and also radiotherapy / chemiotherapy treatments. In these contexts the applicative experiences are generally characterized by two factors: the music therapy technique used that is the use of musical listening rather than active music therapy interventions (interaction between patient and therapist through musical instruments) and the possible effectiveness of music on momentary symptoms as anxiety, stress and pain deriving from illness conditions and / or from particularly invasive medical procedures.

The present study includes the use of musical listening related to the concept of "Music Medicine", a possibility of modifying the psycho-physiological state of the patient through the targeted use of musical pieces respondent to specific parameters and musical structures able to interact in particular conditions (such as illness, surgery, etc) with the psycho-somatic imbalances to which the person is subjected. On the other hand, it has been demonstrated that music can also significantly affect vital parameters and neurochemical processes leading to significant modifications of these aspects.

In particular, in this study, in addition to proposing a traditional listening method, the music used in one of the research arms will be composed of an artificial intelligence called "Melomics-Health" and created in collaboration with the Research Group in Biomimetics of the University of Malaga. This way of composing music gives the possibility to intervene on the design of the music itself, creating the necessary conditions for its use in the therapeutic field. Music can be composed on the basis of specific sound parameters and appropriate musical structures with the aim of achieving the intended therapeutic objective. In this direction, numerous studies have been undertaken whose initial results are really encouraging. One of the advantages of this technology is given by the possibility of forging and shaping the music according to the therapeutic objective, leaving to the artificial intelligence the task to produce it. This perspective represents an absolute innovation and creates considerable potentialities in the use of music listening aimed at the care and health of the individual. The concept above exposed concerning the action of sound and music on the individual together with the use of "Melomics-Health" technology, create the necessary conditions for the fulfillment of the proposed study.

Material and Methods: Sixty breast cancer surgical patients, candidates for post-operative radiotherapy with a healing purpose.

Study design: patients will be recruited in this randomized controlled study with a sequential enrollment and, in the case of inclusion, will be assigned to one of the following 3 groups: a) music listening group (n = 20) (with "Melomics-Health" music) created in relation to the objective of the study; b) favorite music listening group (n = 20) (who will listen to a play-list created with the collaboration of a music therapist; c) a control group (n = 20) to which no musical listening will be proposed. A randomization list, in accordance with a completely randomized parallel group study design, will be generated at the beginning of the study. Within the randomization list, each subject will be uniquely identified by a numerical code that will allow its identification during the entire duration of the study if necessary. Patient identification data will be kept in a separate and properly protected database. The type of intervention expected for this study does not allow its blind conducting for the investigator and for the participant. However, the blindness of psychological and statistical evaluations will be guaranteed in order to reduce the possibility of distortions due to observer or statistical biases.

Assessment: patients will be subjected to a psychological assessment focused on anxiety and distress dimensions correlated to the planned medical procedure and more generally to the clinical condition. At the time of patients enrollment (screening) a clinical / anamnestic assessment will be performed, the inclusion criteria will be verified and appropriate patients will be asked to sign the informed consent. At the baseline (T0), at the end of the treatments (T1) and at the Follow-up (T2, 2 weeks after the fifth session of Radiotherapy) the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory form Y (STAI) and the Psychological Distress Inventory (PDI) will be administered. At T1 phase (conclusion of the treatments) a specific questionnaire will also be submitted to the patients of groups A and B. This questionnaire will allow the music therapist to acquire specific qualitative information regarding the different types of music listening and the responses of the subjects to them.

Procedures: Phase 1. The staff identified by the research team, having verified the presence of inclusion criteria, will consider the patient enrollment and will assign it to one of the treatment arms ("Melomics-Health" listening, individualized listening and absence of music) on the basis of the Principal Investigator indications who manages the randomization list. The patient will be initially explained the motivations and general contents of the study. Only after the patient's effective adherence to the treatment and after the signing of the informed consent, the procedure of the study will be shown the patient according to the assignment group. Patients who adhere to the proposal will be asked to provide some personal information and will subsequently be subjected to the assessments expected by the study. Any failure in obtaining the informed consent or any case of refusal to the request to participate in the study by the enrolled patient, will make it consider as a drop-out patient.

Phase 2. Before the simulation session the psychological scales expected at T0 will be submitted to the patients (STAI of state and of trait and Psychological Distress Inventory - PDI). The treatments will be repeated during the simulation session and for the first five sessions of Radiotherapy. During the last day of treatment (T1, 5th session) and 2 weeks after the conclusion of the treatments (T2) all patients will be evaluated again through the administration of STAI of state and of trait and Psychological Distress Inventory - PDI. During the last day of treatment, a specific musical questionnaire will also be submitted to patients in groups A and B.

Statistics: A statistical analysis plan will be defined in detail before the start of the data analysis phase, taking into account the exploratory nature of the study. In general, descriptive statistics will be produced for all the variables detected. The effectiveness of musical listening in relation to the psychological aspects considered will be evaluated by applying the appropriate models of analysis of variance. All randomized patients for whom at least one available follow-up will be included in the main statistical analyzes (Intention-To-Treat population, with Last Observation Carried Forward); secondary analyzes will be carried out on the subgroup consisting only of patients who have completed the entire follow-up (Per-Protocol population).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Italy
    • Lombardy
      • Pavia, Lombardy, Italy, 27100
        • Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri SpA

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • patients who will undergo Radiation therapy for the first time in their lives
  • patients who are candidates for hypofractionated partial breast irradiation with a duration of at least 10 sessions
  • patients who signed the informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • patients with associated diseases that preclude the understanding of the study contents (eg patients with established psychiatric disorders and / or with significant cognitive deficits)
  • patients with significant hearing loss
  • patients already previously subjected to music therapy or therapy based on music listening
  • patients with musical skills (musical training or musical practice> 3 years).
  • patients who are candidates for hypofractionated partial breast irradiation with a duration equal to or less than 10 sessions

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Radioterapy+"Melomics-Health" Listening
The musical content is composed by an algorithm (named "Melomics-Health") with the purpose of acting psychologically and physiologically on the person: the music follows a constant, melodic trend with a reduced musical density; time is unchanged and there are no significant dynamic and tonal variations. Patients will undergo to music listening for 15 minutes (5 tracks lasting 3 minutes each) before radiotherapy session. Appropriate earphones will be used in order to focus their attention on the musical-sound component and to isolate themselves from the external context.
Other: Music Listening
Participants will undergo two different types of music before radiotherapy sessions
Radiation: Radiotherapy
All participants will undergo radiotherapy according to breast cancer post surgery protocol
Experimental: Radiotherapy+Individualized Listening
The musical content is based on the patient's preferred music (chosen by patients with the support of the music therapist) with the purpose of acting psychologically and physiologically on the person. Patients will undergo to music listening for 15 minutes before radiotherapy session. Appropriate earphones will be used in order to focus their attention on the musical-sound component and to isolate themselves from the external context.
Other: Music Listening
Participants will undergo two different types of music before radiotherapy sessions
Radiation: Radiotherapy
All participants will undergo radiotherapy according to breast cancer post surgery protocol
Other: Radiotherapy+No Music Listening
Patients will undergo the standard treatment (radiotherapy) without music support.
Radiation: Radiotherapy
All participants will undergo radiotherapy according to breast cancer post surgery protocol

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Anxiety reduction
Time Frame: Baseline (T0) vs 2 weeks (T1, i.e. end of radiotherapy treatment)
Difference in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) score. There are 2 subscales within this measure: 1) the State Anxiety Scale (S-Anxiety) evaluating the current state of anxiety; 2) the Trait Anxiety Scale (T-Anxiety) evaluating relatively stable aspects of "anxiety proneness". Range of scores for each subtest is 20-80, the higher score indicating greater anxiety.
Baseline (T0) vs 2 weeks (T1, i.e. end of radiotherapy treatment)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Anxiety reduction
Time Frame: Baseline (T0) vs 4 weeks (T2, two weeks after the end of radiotherapy treatment)
Difference in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) score. There are 2 subscales within this measure: 1) the State Anxiety Scale (S-Anxiety) evaluating the current state of anxiety; 2) the Trait Anxiety Scale (T-Anxiety) evaluating relatively stable aspects of "anxiety proneness". Range of scores for each subtest is 20-80, the higher score indicating greater anxiety.
Baseline (T0) vs 4 weeks (T2, two weeks after the end of radiotherapy treatment)
Stress reduction
Time Frame: Baseline (T0) vs 2 weeks (T1, i.e. end of radiotherapy treatment)
Difference in Psychological Distress Inventory (PDI) score. Score range is from 13 (low distress level) to 65 (high distress level).
Baseline (T0) vs 2 weeks (T1, i.e. end of radiotherapy treatment)
Stress reduction
Time Frame: Baseline (T0) vs 4 weeks (T2, two weeks after the end of radiotherapy treatment)
Difference in Psychological Distress Inventory (PDI) score. Score range is from 13 (low distress level) to 65 (high distress level).
Baseline (T0) vs 4 weeks (T2, two weeks after the end of radiotherapy treatment)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri SpA

Collaborators

University of Pavia

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Alfredo Raglio, PhD, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri SpA

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 5, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 30, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 26, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 15, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

May 29, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 20, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 4, 2022

Last Verified

January 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2179 CE

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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