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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2018 Sep;17(3):628-635.
doi: 10.1177/1534735418757349. Epub 2018 Apr 10.

Music Therapy Reduces Radiotherapy-Induced Fatigue in Patients With Breast or Gynecological Cancer: A Randomized Trial

Tereza Raquel Alcântara-Silva  1 , Ruffo de Freitas-Junior  1 , Nilceana Maya Aires Freitas  2 , Wanderley de Paula Junior  3 , Delson José da Silva  1   4 , Graziela Dias Pinheiro Machado  3 , Mayara Kelly Alves Ribeiro  5 , Jonathas Paiva Carneiro  6 , Leonardo Ribeiro Soares  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Music Therapy Reduces Radiotherapy-Induced Fatigue in Patients With Breast or Gynecological Cancer: A Randomized Trial

Tereza Raquel Alcântara-Silva et al. Integr Cancer Ther. 2018 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the influence of music therapy on the reduction of fatigue in women with breast or gynecological malignant neoplasia during radiotherapy, since it is one of the most frequent side effects of this type of treatment, and may interfere with self-esteem, social activities, and quality of life.

Experimental design: Randomized controlled trial (control group [CG] and music therapy group [MTG]) to assess fatigue, quality of life, and symptoms of depression in women undergoing radiotherapy using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: Fatigue (FACT-F) version 4, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) version 4, and Beck Depression Inventory in 3 separate times, namely, during the first week of radiotherapy, on the week of the intermediary phase, and during the last week of radiotherapy. Individual 30- to 40-minute sessions of music therapy with the presence of a trained music therapist were offered to participants.

Results: In this study, 164 women were randomized and 116 (63 CG and 53 MTG) were included in the analyses, with mean age of 52.90 years (CG) and 51.85 years (MTG). Participants in the MTG had an average of 10 music therapy sessions, totaling 509 sessions throughout the study. FACT-F results were significant regarding Trial Outcome Index ( P = .011), FACT-G ( P = .005), and FACT-F ( P = .001) for the MTG compared with the CG.

Conclusions: Individual music therapy sessions may be effective to reduce fatigue related to cancer and symptoms of depression, as well as to improve quality of life for women with breast or gynecological cancer undergoing radiotherapy. Further well-designed research studies are needed to adequately determine the effects of music therapy on fatigue.

Keywords: breast cancer; fatigue; gynecological cancer; music therapy; radiotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Diagram of randomization.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Assessment of the domain Trial Outcome Index during radiotherapy, according to the group of inclusion in the study, using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: Fatigue. Abbreviations: CG, control group; MTG, music therapy group.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Assessment of the variable quality of life during radiotherapy, according to the group of inclusion in the study, using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: Fatigue. Abbreviations: CG, control group; MTG, music therapy group.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Assessment of the variable fatigue during radiotherapy, according to the group of inclusion in the study, using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: Fatigue. Abbreviations: CG, control group; MTG, music therapy group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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