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ABSTRACT
Introduction: This study aims to evaluate the effects of live music therapy on heart rate variability (HRV) and self-reported stress and anxiety among hospitalized women with high-risk pregnancies. A total of 102 women at an antenatal ward due to pregnancy-related complications participated in a randomized controlled trial.
Methods: The participants were randomly assigned to a music therapy group (N = 52) or control group (N = 50). The women in the music therapy group received live music therapy on three consecutive days, for half an hour at a time. The participants belonging to the control group were instructed to rest for equally long time periods. The physiologic stress of the participants was assessed using HRV measures. The participants also rated their perceived stress and anxiety. The physiologic stress of the participants was assessed using 12 HRV measures.
Results: The SD2 measure of HRV increased significantly more in the music therapy group than in the control group during the therapy sessions. Moreover, the low frequency (LF) HRV measure decreased during the three-day therapy period. The self-reported stress was not significantly altered after the intervention. For women with high initial self-reported anxiety in both groups, their anxiety was significantly reduced during the three-day period.
Acknowledgments
Grant support for this study was received from Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation. The funder had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Disclosure statement
The authors of the study declare that they have no conflict of interest regarding the study.
Supplementary Material
Supplementary data for this article can be accessed here.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Pia Teckenberg-Jansson
Pia Teckenberg-Jansson, music therapist, got her music therapy education and exam at the Musiktherapeutische Arbeitsstätte in Berlin, Germany, in 2004. She is working in Helsinki on an antenatal ward with pregnant women, in various nursing homes for elderly suffering from dementia and also in palliative care. Previous research projects of music therapy for prematurely born children.
Siiri Turunen
Siiri Turunen received her Master of Psychology degree at University of Helsinki, Finland, in 2016, and her M.Phil. degree in cognitive science in 2013. She is currently working as a clinical psychologist at a psychiatric hospital. She has also worked among children and families.
Tarja Pölkki
Tarja Pölkki, R.N., Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, is working as a specialist in clinical nursing science in the unit of Children and Women in the Oulu University Hospital, Finland. Her research interests include pain assessment and pain management, focused especially on non-pharmacological methods, among pediatric patients, as well as family-centered care. Tarja is also a member of PEARL (Pain in Early Life) research group.
Minna-Johanna Lauri-Haikala
Minna-Johanna Lauri-Haikala received her Master of Psychology degree from University of Helsinki, Finland, in 2016. She is currently working as a school psychologist. She has also worked at a children’s hospital.
Jari Lipsanen
Jari Lipsanen received his Master of Psychology degree from University of Helsinki, Finland, in 2006. Currently working as lecturer of psychometrics in Department of Psychology and Logopedics, in University of Helsinki.
Andreas Henelius
Andreas Henelius received his D.Sc. (Tech.) degree in computer science from Aalto University in 2017. His current research interests include the use of randomization methods in data mining.
Ansa Aitokallio-Tallberg
Ansa Aitokallio-Tallberg M.D., Ph.D. Specialist in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology
Working as senior consultant on department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University hospital in Helsinki.
Satu Pakarinen
Satu Pakarinen received her Doctor of Psychology degree from University of Helsinki, Finland, in 2011. Her current research focuses on measuring the effects of acute and prolonged stress on human physiology and performance as well as on health and wellbeing.
Marianne Leinikka
Marianne Leinikka received her M.Sc. (Tech.) degree in bioinformation technology from Aalto University, School of Electrical Engineering, in 2014. Her expertise is in the experimental work in physiological measurements both in laboratory as well as real-life settings and in the analysis of them.
Minna Huotilainen
Minna Huotilainen is a Professor of Educational Sciences at University of Helsinki, Finland. She is best known for her work in studying auditory brain responses in infants and fetuses and showing the benefits of musical training for children and adolescents as well as for her studies on neuroscience of work.