Effect of Alpha Wave-Containing Music on the Psychological Stress Level of Hospital Staffs and their Cognitive Performance

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the effect of alpha music therapy that is an affordable, easily implemented, and sustainable method on stress level, cognitive functions, and physiological response of hospital staff amidst the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The testing group was required to listen to alpha music for two weeks. Stress questionnaires, cognitive tasks, and physiological data were collected before and after the intervention. Blood pressure and heart rate between the two groups do not differ significantly and change after intervention. The increase in PSS scores and fast response time in the Matrix Task of the Control group indicate increasing stress levels, reduced attention, and remembering ability. These results of the Control group explain the high workload at the year-end and COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam occurring during the second data collection week. In contrast, both the PSS and Respond time measures suggest a positive effect of alpha music on the Testing group. © 2021 ECBIOS 2021. All rights reserved.