Does Music Therapy Improve Anxiety and Depression in Alzheimer's Patients?
Journal
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Year
2018
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of a short protocol of music therapy as a tool to reduce stress and improve the emotional state in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: A sample of 25 patients with mild Alzheimer's received therapy based on the application of a music therapy session lasting 60 min. Before and after the therapy, patient saliva was collected to quantify the level of salivary cortisol using the Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) immunoassay technique and a questionnaire was completed to measure anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). RESULTS: The results show that the application of this therapy lowers the level of stress and decreases significantly depression and anxiety, establishing a linear correlation between the variation of these variables and the variation of cortisol. CONCLUSIONS: A short protocol of music therapy can be an alternative medicine to improve emotional variables in Alzheimer patients.
Music and Health Institute Terms
Alzheimer's and Related Dementias; Anxiety; Cortisol Levels; Depression; Elderly; Emotional Functioning; Music Therapy; Neurodegenerative Disorders; Stress Hormone Levels
Indexed Terms
Elderly; Elderly; Alzheimer Disease; Anxiety; Depression; Hydrocortisone; Saliva; Alzheimer's; anxiety; cortisol; depression
Study Type
Quasi-Experimental Study; Quantitative Methods
PubMed ID
28714736
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
de la Rubia Ortí, J. E., García-Pardo, M. P., Iranzo, C. C., Madrigal, J. J., Castillo, S. S., Rochina, M. J., & Gascó, V. J. (2018). Does Music Therapy Improve Anxiety and Depression in Alzheimer's Patients?. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (1), 33-36. Retrieved from https://remix.berklee.edu/mhi-citations/79