Publication Date:
2005-11-16
Description:
Patients with acute leukemia who receive intensive chemotherapy often require a prolonged hospitalization in a protective environment. The required isolation may increase the psychological distress related to the diagnosis and intensive chemotherapy treatment. The combination of music and imagery offers an innovative approach to reduce distress. To assess the feasibility and the potential efficacy of a music imagery intervention, we randomly assigned adults to standard care or standard care plus music imagery. The initial music imagery session with a board certified music therapist occurred within two days of admission and then twice weekly for 8 sessions. Each 45-minute session consisted of a relaxation exercise and patient created imagery while listening to music. Patients were encouraged to independently use the music imagery daily. Patients completed the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI), the FACIT-Fatigue, and the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) at baseline, then every 7 days until discharge, and at a follow-up outpatient clinic visit. Of the 78 patients approached for participation, 29 refused. The 3 most common reasons cited were: overwhelmed by treatment (9), not interested (8), and too sick (6). Forty-nine individuals were randomized to the intervention (25) or control (24) group. There were 19 men and 30 women and a majority of participants were married (65%). Average age for participants was 52 (SD 15.36) for intervention and 55 (SD 15.87) for control. The median length of stay was 28 and 26 days, respectively. For the intervention group, 8 (32%) individuals received 8 sessions, 5 (20%) received 5–7 sessions, 9 (36%) received 2–4, and 6 (24%) received 0–1 sessions. After adjusting for baseline scores, there was a main time effect in predicting Fatigue, PANAS-PA, PANAS-NA, and Anxiety (all p
Print ISSN:
0006-4971
Electronic ISSN:
1528-0020
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
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