RESUMO
This study was aimed to evaluate effects of traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM ) five elements music therapy on the quality of life for both senior and non-senior advanced cancer patients , and improve TCM com-prehensive treatment mode . A total of 170 patients were stratified according to 70-year-old in a randomized controlled trial ( RCT ) with a parallel single-blind design . The ratio of patients among three groups was 2:2:1 . In the experimental group , TCM five elements music was given in the treatment . In the positive control group , western music was used in the treatment . And in the negative control group , no music was given in the treat-ment . The treatment was given for 30 min , 5 times per week . And the observation duration was 3 weeks . The Hospice Quality of Life Index-Revised ( HQOLI-R ) , Karnofsky Performance Scale ( KPS ) and Symptom Diary Score recorded by patients were used in the evaluation . The results showed that when comparing HQOLI-R , KPS and Symptom Diary Score before and after treatment among all advanced cancer patients in each group , there was a significant difference before and after treatment in the TCM five elements music therapy group ( P 0 . 05 ) . It was concluded that TCM five elements music therapy is effective in improving quality of life and subjective symptoms for both senior and non-senior advanced cancer patients . However , the sensitivity of using the Symptom Diary Score as an evaluation index among senior patients still needs to be further proved .