September 7, 2006 – Listening to music may reduce the intensity of pain as well as the need for medication, but its effects are weak and imprecise. This is the conclusion drawn by the authors of a summary of clinical trials1, published under the aegis of the prestigious medical database The Cochrane Library.
The 51 clinical trials analyzed, chosen at random and without restriction as to language, focused on several types of pain (acute, chronic, malignant, postoperative, etc.), experienced by both adults and children. A total of 1,867 people participated in the studies by listening to music and 1,796 people took part as a control group.
According to the researchers, half of the studies were not of good quality. Some results still offer interesting perspectives. For postoperative pain, patients who listened to music reported less pain (-0.5 units on a scale of 0 to 10) and lower consumption of analgesics or painkillers.
Four studies have shown that one in five people exposed to music experienced a pain reduction of 50% or more, the equivalent of 325 ml of paracetamol, a popular pain reliever. Three trials looked at drug needs two hours after surgery: subjects exposed to music needed 1.0 mg (18.4%) less morphine than unexposed subjects. According to five other studies, 24 hours after surgery, participants who listened to music reduced their morphine dose by 5.7 mg (15.4%).
According to the authors, physicians should be aware of the limited usefulness of music for pain relief.
Claudia Morissette– HealthPassport.net
1. Cepeda MS, Carr DB, Lau J, Alvarez H. Music for pain relief , The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2006 Apr 19; (2): CD004843.