The MUSICare Project: Effects of Differentiated Music Exposure on Exercise-Related Affect Among Cardiac Rehabilitation Inpatients (MUSICare)

Affective phenomena, such as core affect, remembered pleasure, or forecasted pleasure, play a key role in promoting physical activity (PA) behaviour, especially among inpatients. The use of music has been shown to be a particularly cost-effective and low-friction approach to promoting positive affective valence during PA. However, interventions using music to improve exercise-related affective phenomena among inpatients are lacking. This study will aim to investigate an intervention that combines the effects of music with the "peak-end rule" on core affective responses (valence and arousal), remembered pleasure, and forecasted pleasure associated with exercise sessions among cardiac rehabilitation inpatients.

The primary objective of the present study will be to examine the effect of differentiated music exposure on core affective responses, ratings of perceived exertion and psychophysiological responses to moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), as well as on associated remembered pleasure, exercise enjoyment, and forecasted pleasure. A secondary objective will be to assess the potential mediating effect of affective valence at the end of the MICT on remembered pleasure and exercise enjoyment. A third objective will be to assess the effect of MICT with or without music on an emotional rating task, together with pupillometric measures. Finally, the study will examine the influence of remembered pleasure on subsequent forecasted pleasure.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Rehabilitation Exercise
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Music listening during physical exercise

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 72
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Elena Tessitore, MD; Phone Number: +41795532615; Email: elena.tessitore@hcuge.ch

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • Geneva, Switzerland, 1205
    • Recruiting
    • Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève
    • Contact: Véronique Menoni, PhD; Phone Number: +41223729195; Email: veronique.menoni@hcuge.ch
    • Principal Investigator: Christophe Luthy, Prof

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Individuals enrolled in an inpatient 3-week cardiac exercise-based rehabilitation programme
• Age range 50-75 years
• Can withstand the study protocol without undue risk
• Able to provide written consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Contraindication to physical activity in view of the health status
• Presence of cognitive or psychological disorder
• Hearing impairment with or without hearing aids

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: MFH; Music in the First Half of the Exercise Session	Other: Music listening during physical exercise; Exposure to music played at different phases of the physical activity
Experimental: MSH; Music in the Second Half of the Exercise Session	Other: Music listening during physical exercise; Exposure to music played at different phases of the physical activity
Experimental: MT; Music Throughout the Exercise Session	Other: Music listening during physical exercise; Exposure to music played at different phases of the physical activity
No Intervention: Control; Exercice Session without any music

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Affective valence during the moderate intensity continuous training	Mesured with filling scale (FS)	22 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Affective arousal during the moderate-intensity continuous training	Affective arousal will be measured at five time points ( Minute 3, Minute 12, Minute 13, Minute 22, and Minute 25) using the Felt Arousal Scale (Svebak & Murgatroyd, 1985), a single-item bipolar rating scale using the sentence "How aroused do you actually feel?" with possible responses ranging from 1 (low arousal) to 6 (high arousal).	25 minutes
Rating of perceived exertion during the moderate-intensity continuous training	Remembered pleasure will be measured 5 min after each training session using a visual analogy scale presented on a Samsung Galaxy Tab ranging from -100 (very unpleasant) to +100 (very pleasant) in intervals of 1 (Zenko et al., 2016). Participants will be asked to answer the following question: "How did the exercise session make you feel?" (Hutchinson et al., 2023).	5 minutes after each training session

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Elena Tessitore

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 12, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 12, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): December 26, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 26, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 12, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: physical activity; music; cardiac rehabilitation; affective valence
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Motor Activity
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2024-0424; SNCTP000006164 (Other Identifier: HumRes)

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