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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2013 Jun;29(3):121-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.iccn.2012.11.001. Epub 2012 Dec 8.

Does music influence stress in mechanically ventilated patients?

Linda L Chlan  1 , William C Engeland, Kay Savik
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Does music influence stress in mechanically ventilated patients?

Linda L Chlan et al. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2013 Jun.

Abstract

Objectives: Mechanically ventilated patients experience profound stress. Interventions are needed to ameliorate stress that does not cause adverse effects. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of music on stress in a sample of patients over the duration of ventilatory support.

Research methodology/design: Randomised controlled trial; randomised patients (56.8+16.9 years, 61% male, APACHE III 57.2+18.3) receiving ventilatory support to: (1) patient-directed music (PDM) where patients self-initiated music listening whenever desired from a preferred collection, (2) headphones only to block ICU noise, or (3) usual ICU care. Twenty-four hour urinary cortisol samples were collected from a sub-set of subjects with intact renal function and not receiving medications known to influence cortisol levels (n=65).

Setting: 12 ICUs in the Midwestern United States.

Main outcome measures: Urinary free cortisol (UFC), an integrative biomarker of stress.

Results: Controlling for illness severity, gender, and baseline UFC (29-45 mg/day), mixed models analysis revealed no significant differences among groups in UFC over the course of ventilatory support.

Conclusion: While music did not significantly reduce cortisol, less profound spikes in UFC levels were observed but that, given the limitations of the research, this observation could have occurred merely by chance.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Median Urinary Free Cortisol Levels over Time with Number of Subjects Providing Daily Samples Legend: Grey bar = Median UFC (mg/day) Black bar = number of subjects providing UFC samples each study day
Figure 2
Figure 2
Median Urinary Cortisol Levels over Study Period by Group Legend: PDM = patient-directed music HP = Headphones only UC = usual care
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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