Significant treatment effect of adjunct music therapy to standard treatment on the positive, negative, and mood symptoms of schizophrenic patients: a meta-analysis

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Yen-Wen Chen¹  Pao-Yen Lin²  Kun-Yu Tu³  Yi-Chung Chang³  Weilun Chung³  Yu-Shian Cheng³  Hung-Yu Wang³  Chih-Hua Chang³  Ching-Kuan Wu³  Ping-Tao Tseng³ 

[1] Department of Neurology, E-Da Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Center for Translational Research in Biomedical Sciences, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Department of Psychiatry, Tsyr-Huey Mental Hospital, Kaohsiung Jen-Ai’s Home, Taiwan, No.509, Fengping 1st Rd., Daliao Dist, 831, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan;

关键词: Psychiatry;    Adjunct therapy;    Schizophrenia;    Music therapy;    Alternative therapy;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-016-0718-8

 received in 2015-09-26, accepted in 2016-01-15,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMusic therapy (MT) has been used as adjunct therapy for schizophrenia for decades. However, its role is still inconclusive. A recent meta-analysis demonstrated that MT for schizophrenic patients only significantly benefits negative symptoms and mood symptoms rather than positive symptoms. In addition, the association between specific characteristics of MT and the treatment effect remains unclear. The aim of this study was to update the published data and to explore the role of music therapy in adjunct treatment in schizophrenia with a thorough meta-analysis.MethodsWe compared the treatment effect in schizophrenic patients with standard treatment who did and did not receive adjunct MT through a meta-analysis, and investigated the clinical characteristics of MT through meta-regression.ResultsThe main finding was that the treatment effect was significantly better in the patients who received adjunct MT than in those who did not, in negative symptoms, mood symptoms, and also positive symptoms (all p < 0.05). This significance did not change after dividing the patients into subgroups of different total duration of MT, amounts of sessions, or frequency of MT. Besides, the treatment effect on the general symptoms was significantly positively associated with the whole duration of illness, indicating that MT would be beneficial for schizophrenic patients with a chronic course.ConclusionsOur meta-analysis highlights a significantly better treatment effect in schizophrenic patients who received MT than in those who did not, especially in those with a chronic course, regardless of the duration, frequency, or amounts of sessions of MT. These findings provide evidence that clinicians should apply MT for schizophrenic patients to alleviate disease severity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Tseng et al. 2016