Music Intervention for Dialysis Patients

June 12, 2026 updated by: Kathleen Rose Agres, National University of Singapore

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the efficacy of both live and pre-recorded music interventions on alleviating the negative effects of dialysis treatment.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does music intervention have an effect on experienced pain, itch, anxiety, depression, and quality of life in dialysis patients?
  • To what extent do pre-recorded and live music performances differ in their effect on experienced pain, itch, anxiety, depression, and quality of life in dialysis patients?

Participants will Attend their regularly scheduled dialysis appointments for one week, and baseline data will be gathered (pain/itch NRS, WHO-5, DASS21).

During the second week, participants will be exposed to live music, and research data will be gathered.

This process will then be repeated in weeks 3 and 4, but with pre-recorded music as the intervention method.

Researchers will compare baseline data to intervention data (within group comparison), as well as live music to pre-recorded (between group comparison).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Singapore leads the world in the prevalence of diabetes-induced kidney failure, with approximately 6 new kidney failure patients diagnosed daily (US International Trade Administration, 2023). A growing body of research underscores the effectiveness of music interventions in mitigating the adverse impacts of dialysis. While the literature supports the efficacy of music interventions in alleviating the negative effects of dialysis, it is noteworthy that such interventions have not been conducted locally in Singapore. Our forthcoming study aims to address this gap by implementing a 2-armed investigation, comparing participants' baseline scores with live, pre-recorded music groups. We will assess mental health (including depression, anxiety, and stress), pain, itching, and quality of life scores in patients undergoing dialysis, with the overarching objective of ameliorating the negative effects associated with dialysis through music. Furthermore, distinctions in the effects of pre-recorded versus live music remain unexplored in this particular medical context. We hypothesize that scores from both music groups will improve compared to baseline control scores, and that the impact will be greater in the live intervention group compared to the pre-recorded music group.

Research procedures will take place at two National Kidney Foundation dialysis centres, at Corporation Road level 1 and at Clementi in Singapore. Procedures involve the TENG ensemble playing music, either live onsite or pre-recorded, for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour at the centres while patients are midway through their dialysis treatment, around the end of the first hour or during the second hour. Each participant will experience a total of 3 music intervention sessions in either the live music or pre-recorded music group. Thus, each participant will experience a total of 6 research visits, 3 baseline sessions in the first week and 3 intervention sessions in the second week. Due to the nature of the study, neither participants nor research assistants can be blinded to the mode of intervention.

In total, the research team will make 20 research visits over 4 weeks, with 3 visits for each centre in the intervention weeks (Week 2 and Week 4), and 2 visits in the baseline weeks (Week 1 and Week 3). These visits will span about 3-4 hours per dialysis session. The second session of each week will not involve any data collection, for a total of 16 visits involving data collection, or 8 at each centre, over 4 weeks. One research assistant will still be present on the second session of the intervention weeks to ensure that the music is played appropriately. Participants will be reimbursed at the end of each week.

Variables of interest include quality of life, depression, anxiety, and stress scores will also be collected in addition to the pain and itch scores. The pain and itch survey is a simple 10 point numerical rating scale, and will take approximately 1 to 2 minutes to complete. The quality of life, depression, anxiety, and stress questionnaire will take approximately 12 minutes to complete. It includes the WHO 5 Wellbeing index, and the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21). The findings from these surveys will assist in illustrating the effects of music based interventions on the side effects of dialysis. This study also aims to demonstrate the value of music interventions as a low-risk, cost-effective form of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).

In summary, our study seeks to provide the first local evidence, to our knowledge, supporting the efficacy of music interventions for dialysis patients in Singapore. This will also be the first study internationally to rigorously examine the differences between live and pre-recorded music interventions for this clinical population.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

102

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

  • Singapore
      • Singapore, Singapore, 120326
        • NKF Clementi Dialysis Centre
      • Singapore, Singapore, 649808
        • Integrated Renal Care Centre

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Are between 21 and 90 years old
  • Undergoing dialysis at the Corporation Road level 1 or Clementi NKF dialysis centre
  • Normal or corrected hearing
  • Willing to stay awake and listen during the music intervention
  • Are able to speak English, Mandarin, Malay, or Hokkien

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed dementia or cognitive impairment
  • Diagnosed psychiatric disorder

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: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Live music
Patients will have baseline data collection in the first week, followed by live music sessions and data collection during dialysis in the second week.
Behavioral: Live music
Patients will have baseline data collection in the first week, followed by live music sessions and data collection during dialysis in the second week. The live music will be played for 45 minutes to one hour per dialysis session, and will be played during each of patients' three dialysis sessions in week 2 of this arm of the study.
Active Comparator: Pre-recorded music
Patients will have baseline data collection in the first week, followed by pre-recorded music sessions and data collection during dialysis in the second week.
Behavioral: Pre-recorded music
Patients will have baseline data collection in the first week, followed by pre-recorded music sessions and data collection during dialysis in the second week. The pre-recorded music will be played for 45 minutes to one hour per dialysis session, and will be played during each of patients' three dialysis sessions in week 2 of this arm of the study.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
DASS-21
Time Frame: Baseline measurements taken at the end of weeks 1 and 3, intervention measurements taken at the end of weeks 2 and 4.
Mental Health
Baseline measurements taken at the end of weeks 1 and 3, intervention measurements taken at the end of weeks 2 and 4.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
WHO-5
Time Frame: Baseline measurements taken at the end of weeks 1 and 3, intervention measurements taken at the end of weeks 2 and 4.
Quality of Life
Baseline measurements taken at the end of weeks 1 and 3, intervention measurements taken at the end of weeks 2 and 4.

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain and itch numerical ranking scale
Time Frame: Twice per week (first and third session of the week), for both baseline and intervention. Taken across all 4 weeks.
Survey
Twice per week (first and third session of the week), for both baseline and intervention. Taken across all 4 weeks.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

National University of Singapore

Collaborators

National Kidney Foundation, United States

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)

May 27, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 22, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

June 22, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 22, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 22, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

June 27, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 12, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NUS-IRB-2023-620

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Coded participant data will only be available within the research team. IPD will not be shared outside of the research team.

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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