The effect of music therapy on depression and physiological parameters in elderly people living in a Turkish nursing home: a randomized-controlled trial

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study was carried out in an effort to determine the effect of music therapy on depression and physiological parameters in elderly people who were living in a nursing home.

Method: The study was a randomized controlled trial. The study sample consisted of 64 elderly people who complied with the criteria of inclusion for the study. The data were collected using the ‘Elderly Information Form’ and ‘Geriatric Depression Scale’. The music group listened to music three days in a week during 8 weeks. The depression levels were assessed at baseline (week 0) and follow-up in the eight week.

Results: It was found that the difference between post-test depression scores of the two groups was found to be statistically significant (t = −2.86, p <.01). The mean scores of post-test systolic blood pressure in the music group were found to be significantly lower than those of the control group (t = −3.11, p < .05).

Conclusion: It was concluded that music therapy decreased the depression level and systolic blood pressure in elderly people. The study results implies that music therapy can be an effective practice for public health and home care nurses attempting to reduce depression and control physiological parameters of elderly people.

KEYWORDS:

• Elderly people
• nursing home
• music therapy
• depression
• physiological parameters

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank nursing home employees for their support and elderly people who accepted to participate in this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.