Quantification of the effects of listening to music as a noninvasive method of pain control.

This study quantified the effects of listening to music as a noninvasive nursing method of pain control. The effects of soothing and stimulating music on pain and tactile thresholds, heart rate, and blood pressure were determined on healthy female volunteers (N = 10) in a laboratory setting. Data were analyzed by ANOVA for repeated measures and post hoc comparison tests. Soothing music significantly elevated pain thresholds but not tactile thresholds. Stimulating music significantly elevated pain thresholds as well as tactile thresholds. Neither stimulating nor soothing music had a significant effect on autonomic activity. Based on the results of this laboratory study and other studies, the effects of listening to music on people in pain warrants further examination.

The music therapy assessment tool in Alzheimer's patients.

1. Empirical research is needed to evaluate immediate and sustained physiological, psychological, and psychosocial therapeutic effects, if any, of music therapy on behavioral patterns of elderly institutionalized Alzheimer's patients. 2. The Music Therapy Assessment Tool (MTAT) was specifically designed and developed to assess the effects of music therapy on behavioral patterns of Alzheimer's disease patients. 3. Preliminary testing of the MTAT suggests that it has fairly high internal consistency and inter-rater reliability and warrants consideration as a research tool. 4. Musical intervention included familiar music to facilitate communication and socialization, ethnic and nostalgic music to stimulate reminiscence, and melodies with distinctive rhythmic patterns to enhance movement and behavioral repatterning.