Effects of Music Therapy on Anxiety, Depression and Fatigue in Cancer Patients Undergoing Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music therapy on anxiety, depression and fatigue in cancer patient undergoing intensity modulated radiotherapy. METHODS: This study was a nonequivalent control pretest-posttest design. The participants were 65 cancer patients (33 experimental and 32 control group) receiving intensity modulated radiotherapy. Music therapy for the experimental group took 20-30 minutes per session for five days while they were receiving radiotherapy. RESULTS: State anxiety, VAS anxiety and depression of the experimental group after treatment were reduced but there was no statistical significance between the experimental group and control group before and after having treatment. There was no statistical significance on the difference of fatigue between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Music therapy is an adjuvant therapy and using other nursing intervention with music therapy could be more effective than using only music therapy to reduce the anxiety, depression and fatigue for cancer patients undergoing intensity modulated radiotherapy.