A research published in 2003 showed that listening to music is an effective way to relief osteoarthritis pain in elders. The purpose of the clinical trial was to examine the influence of music as a nursing intervention on osteoarthritis pain in elders.
Known as the most common degenerative disease in humans. Osteoarthritis is on the greatest cause of pain and disability in the UK. In the 2015 musculoskeletal conditions were the main reason for sickness absence in the UK with 32.4 million working lost.
Osteoarthritis usually begins in middle age and is progressive. Chronic pain in older people represents a significant obstacle in maintaining function and independence. Some studies showed that these conditions, reduced mobility and pain, may cause depression in the elderly people.
Nevertheless, previous studies have shown that music can improve motivation, elevate mood, and increase feelings of control in older people.
Data were collected using the short form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire with 66 elders suffering from chronic osteoarthritis pain. Differences in perceptions of pain were measured over 14 days in an experimental group who listened to music for 20 minutes daily and a control group who sat quietly for 20 minutes daily. All participants completed the Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) on day 1, 7, and 14 of the study.
According to the results the experimental group reported less pain at post-test than pretest on all the measuring days. And the statistical reports showed a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group which reported about the same level of pretest and post-test pain during the measuring days.
This randomized clinical trial provides evidence that community-dwelling elders who listen to music in a relaxed atmosphere have decreased chronic osteoarthritis pain when compared with those who do not listen to music. Further, the study demonstrates that in the group who listened to music, pain continued to decrease across the 14-day study period as compared with the group who did not listen to music and whose pain remained constant.
So in conclusion, music listening is a safe, cost effective, nursing intervention for use with community dwelling elders who experience chronic osteoarthritis pain. Nurses can use music, a noninvasive, inexpensive, safe modality, as part of their understanding of people as unitary human beings who are more than and different from the sum of their parts.
Source: Effect of music on chronic osteoarthritis pain in older people by Ruth McCaffrey ND ARNP FNP GNP and Edward Freeman PhD ARNP
Date: 03/17/2017
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