Hybrid Group Singing

Group Singing (Hybrid Format) or Solo Singing in Older Adults With Coronary Artery Disease: A Feasibility Study

The overall objective of the planned future clinical trial is to test the investigator's central hypothesis that habitual singing over several weeks, similar to habitual exercise, will lead to sustained and favorable vascular adaptation, thereby lowering cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The overall objective of this study is to refine and protocolize the singing interventions and test the feasibility of the future trial design. The investigative team has previously studied solo singing. Collective singing, as in a choir or small group, is associated with a positive sense of social inclusion, well-being, and improved mood, including in older adults.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Coronary Artery Disease; Elderly
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: group singing (hybrid format); Behavioral: instructional sing-along video series

Detailed Description

The investigator previously studied 65 subjects (mean age 68±7, 40% women) with known CAD in a randomized, control cross-over clinical trial of singing interventions: (1) a 30-minute period of guided singing from an in-person coach (music therapist), (2) a 30-minute period of singing along to an instructional video created by and including a professor of voice and 'inexperienced, older singing student,' and (3) a 'rest' control during which subjects underwent a brief hearing test. Fifty-four percent reported a physical or orthopedic limitation. The primary outcome was vascular endothelial function. There was statistically significant improvement in microvascular endothelial function, as measured by the Framingham reactive hyperemia index (fRHI), after 30 minutes of singing in the instructional video arm (30.9%, p=0.007) compared to the rest control. The observed change in fRHI in the prior clinical trial translates into a ~25% reduction in CVD risk, which is comparable to traditional cardiac rehabilitation program participation. There was no improvement in macrovascular function, as assessed by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation. The visit with the music therapist coach did not reach statistical significance. Unfortunately, this may have been related to disruption of the in-person coach visits during the COVID pandemic, where the investigator continued the clinical trial but moved to a virtual interaction for the one-on-one coach visits (n=20 out of 65 subjects).

Why should group singing be considered? Collective singing, as in a choir or small group, is associated with a positive sense of social inclusion, well-being, and improved mood (less anxiety and depression), including in older adults and may be less anxiety-provoking than one-on-one singing. From a healthcare systems standpoint, group singing would be more efficient and cost-saving (lower per-person cost than individual singing therapy), which has been shown for other treatments without compromising efficacy. With a longer intervention planned for 12 weeks, there will be ample opportunity for the therapeutic relationship between patients and music therapist. The investigator needs to show that this acute, beneficial vascular adaptation is sustained after habitual singing over several weeks, thereby lowering future CVD risk. Before the investigator can execute a large-scale efficacy trial, the study team needs to determine the most acceptable frequency, duration, and delivery format (in-person and/or virtual) that is feasible and tailored to the target population. This study will help the investigator and team protocolize the group singing and video interventions, execute a feasibility trial on a smaller scale, and assess the fidelity of the delivered interventions in preparation for the larger efficacy trial.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 32
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Wisconsin
    • Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 53226
      • Recruiting
      • Medical College of Wisconsin
      • Contact: Ryan Kacala; Phone Number: 414-955-6885; Email: rkacala@mcw.edu
      • Contact: Jacquelyn Kulinski, MD, FASPC; Phone Number: 414-955-6896; Email: jakulinski@mcw.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• history of coronary artery disease (defined as having at least 1 of the following: myocardial infarction, coronary stent, PCI, CABG, coronary stenosis at least 50%, or coronary artery calcification score at least 300 Agatston units)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Parkinson's disease or tremor
• upper arm fistula
• fingernail onychomycosis
• pregnancy
• current tobacco use
• current illicit drug use
• current excessive alcohol use (defined as more than 14 drinks/week for women, more than 28 drinks/week for men)
• unstable CAD (active symptoms of chest discomfort)
• supplemental oxygen use
• more than mild cognitive impairment (as documented in the medical record by patient's treatment teams)
• inability to follow study procedures
• non-English speaking

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: group singing (hybrid format); Group singing sessions are a hybrid of in-person and virtual participation with in-person participation encouraged. Intake forms will be used to assess musical preference, prior music experience, and pertinent medical conditions to consider. Songs will be selected based on music preference of the subjects. At the start of each session, the music therapist will review the importance of singing and lead the group in taking deep breaths together. Throughout sessions, the therapist will encourage subjects to sing as much as possible, explaining that it's not about how they sound but how they feel. Initially, the group singing format will be 40 minutes of singing (includes a vocal warm-up), three times weekly, for a total of 12 weeks. The total singing time is the same as in the solo singing video arm. Based on focus group feedback, the formats could change. However, we will aim to keep total singing time the same (i.e., 120 minutes of singing per week).	Behavioral: group singing (hybrid format); 12-weeks of group singing, combination of in-person and virtual sessions, 3 times weekly
Active Comparator: individual sing-along video series; Participants in this arm watch and sing to an online video series independently. The video series is created by a professor of voice with older students in the videos. We plan to use REDCap to deliver the assigned videos at set times and frequencies and display the videos in an embedded audio player for the subjects. Use of REDCap will allow us to track when subjects are watching the videos with reminders sent up to five times. We will also include 2 questions at the end on how much they enjoyed the video (scale 1-10) and how much of the 40 minutes were sung. Inserting questions at the end confirms that participants likely viewed the entire video.	Behavioral: instructional sing-along video series; 12-week solo singing video series done independently, 3 times weekly

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Adherence	The mean percent of sessions attended.	12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Enrollment rate	Proportion of subjects who enroll out of all approached, eligible patients and participate in at least one session.	12 weeks
Retention rate	Proportion of enrolled subjects who complete all study visits.	out of 2 study visits (baseline and post-intervention visit after 12 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Medical College of Wisconsin

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Bagherimohamadipour M, Hammad M, Visotcky A, Sparapani R, Kulinski J. Effects of singing on vascular health in older adults with coronary artery disease: a randomized, crossover trial. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2025 Apr 28;12:1546462. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1546462. eCollection 2025.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): April 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 12, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 12, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 21, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 4, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 28, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: group singing; individual singing
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Heart Diseases; Arteriosclerosis; Arterial Occlusive Diseases; Coronary Disease; Myocardial Ischemia; Coronary Artery Disease
• Other Study ID Numbers: 00056785

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No