Effectiveness of music therapy on biophysiological and psychological outcomes among patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy

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Syed Imran

Yenepoya University, India

: J Nurs Patient Care

Abstract

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The word cancer brings up many ideas for the individuals; surprisingly, they are afraid, not so much of death, but for themselves, the fear of pain or the end of life as they know it and for others, the fear of being a nuisance or even objectionable. The diagnosis of cancer means a change in the lifestyle of the person in whom the cancer is found. The degree and permanency of that change is, of course, dependent on the extent of the disease, the course of treatment undertaken and the resultant disabilities, all of which place that individual and his family under tremendous stress. The stress begins before the person even enters hospital and is compounded by the events which follow the individual’s transformation into the hospital patient. A sick person is taken out of his or her natural environment and placed in the strange and often overwhelming atmosphere of a hospital, which, by its very nature, strips the patient of his or her individualism. It is, therefore, very important for the hospital worker, who is so familiar with this environment, not only to be aware of this anxiety-producing process, but to cope with it herself and to alleviate it for the patient as much as possible. The person who is diagnosed as having a cancer is anxious over many things in addition to being hospitalized. Music is considered to be effective stress burner and also helps in decreasing anxiety in patients undergoing various treatment modalities. There is a growing body of research documenting the effects of many alternative treatment modalities in cancer care, one among which is the music therapy. Research has proved that engaging in the music listening or music composing activities will reduce the overall health ailments which will arise due to the treatment part and increases the quality of life in terms of comfort, relaxation in patients with cancer. Thus the aim of this study was to examine the effects of relaxing music on the biophysiological (salivary amylase, pain, blood pressure, heart rate) and psychological (anxiety) parameters of patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Biography

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Syed Imran has completed Post-graduation in Psychiatric Nursing and presently pursuing Doctoral degree from Yenepoya University, Karnataka, India. He is working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatric Nursing in Yenepoya College of Nursing, Yenepoya University, India. He also did other additional courses like Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Ethics and Post Certificate course in Palliative Care. He has published more than 10 papers in national and international journals and has been serving as a Scientific Committee Member for International Journal of Nursing Care.